


The Law of Us

by FreakingOutGirl



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), All of them are lawyers, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Andreil, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Foxes, Foxes Lawyers, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con for past events, Lawyers, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Neil's father is in prison, Neil's mother is dead, Playful Andreil, Psychological Drama, Riko is a CEO and a bastard, Romance, Secret Past, Secret Relationship, Semi-Public Sex, Sexy Times, Smut, Softer Andrew, Softer Neil, The non-con is only for past events, softer characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-03-07 09:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 53,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13432167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakingOutGirl/pseuds/FreakingOutGirl
Summary: Neil Josten is the newest addiction to the team of lawyers known as the Foxes, from the Foxhole Law Office. With a past full of secrets only known by three people in that office, privy to his darkest moments, can Neil win the biggest case of his life, defending Jean Moreau, victim of abuse and torture, from his employer, the famous and rich CEO, Riko Moriyama?And can he keep Andrew safe from the past he tries to run from?Maybe saying yes to all he wants might be Neil's last word...____An AU where all the Foxes are lawyers, Neil is still an idiot, Andrew still loves that idiot, and Riko is a psycho like in every universe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, this is my first attempt at a totally AU of the Foxhole Court, without any Exy or Palmetto in it.  
> Second, I'm not a law student, and the stuff in here probably doesn't resemble reality at all. I did some research, but it's a complex subject and I'm afraid I will do a lot of mistakes. So please, if you see some huge ass mistake tell me and I will try to correct it, if it doesn't change the flow of the story. Please, remember this is a work of fiction and doesn't try to picture the perfect justice/law enforcement process.  
> Third, the Rape/Non-con is just for mentions of past events.  
> And fourth, I really hope you enjoy this story!

When Neil Josten stepped into the Foxhole Law Office, he could never imagine how that small gesture would bring such big consequences into his life.

The man was the newest lawyer of the law firm, a place known for their eccentric lawyers and their unethical wins and losses. At least that was what everyone that went against them would say. Neil decided to form his own opinions and not be swayed by people bad-mouthing the team, even if he had to admit to himself that they really were a bunch of weirdos. The nickname they had in the field, the Foxes, after their own office’s name, was just another curiosity about the group of lawyers Neil was ready to join.

But what could he say against a firm that accepted a lawyer who was refused by the company where he did his internship when they found out about his past? How could he badmouth David Wymack and Abby Winfield when they gave him a chance of working, when his dreams were destroyed by a truthful rumor? Neil hoped he could pay them, not only for their help now and in the past, but for not letting anyone in their office know the reasons behind his former company dropping him out. For protecting his secrets. For saving him once again.

However, trying as he was to give a good first impression, even if that impression fell under the jurisdiction of bland and incredibly boring (much different from his usual demeanor), when Neil stepped out of the elevator, his messenger bag swaying against his hip, he was immediately greeted by a scene he would never imagine in any other lawyers’s office.

“The fuck do you mean? That client was mine!”

“He is a sportsman, of course I get him!”

“He is a _former_ sportsman! Now he is a movie star! And that is my jurisdiction!”

“When you are as good as me, we can talk again!”

”You fucking asshole!”

Neil was frozen in front of the shouting match between a blonde woman and a raven-haired man, his eyes moving from one person to the other. He knew things would be weird, but seeing Allison Reynolds and Kevin Day screeching at each other, while the rest of the lawyers did nothing to pacify them, was certainly a very unsettling sight.

“Oh! Rookie!” a tall man suddenly said, rising from his chair at seeing Neil, standing there, kind of lost in the craziness.

It was like a spell. Everyone else stopped looking at Reynolds and Day to look at him, even Reynolds and Day stopped looking at each other and screaming.

“Oh! Hotty!” Allison commented and Neil felt himself tense.

“Allison!” another woman admonished, and if the previous scene was weird, seeing Renee Walker with her pastel hair, in a business suit, was definitely close to it.

The tall man and another woman with dark skin approached Neil, extending their hands in synchronicity.

“Dan Wilds.”

“Matt Boyd.”

Neil shook their hands slowly, observing them like an animal in a wild environment.

“You must be Neil Josten, right?” Dan was saying, while Kevin, Renee and Allison approached him, saying their names in a cacophony of voices and polite smiles.

“Yes, I’m the new lawyer.” Neil tried to smile politely, but there was something weird happening with his cheeks. It was like they were frozen, hence unable to answer his commands. This was becoming harder than he imagined… And he was in there for only ten minutes…

Dan Wilds took the responsibility of explaining everything to Neil, how things worked around the office, especially the way every lawyer could get attributed a random case, unless it fell under certain parameters and then it would go to a determined person. That was when he finally understood the scene he just witnessed. And what was actually the reason for the fight, since, apparently, Kevin Day was attributed cases related to sports and Allison Reynolds to movie and music celebrities. And it didn’t end there, since Dan Wilds was a fierce defender of women’s rights, Renee Walker worked a lot of pro bono cases and Matt Boyd worked with substance abuse situations.

“You probably won’t meet Nicky today. He isn’t working in the office today, since the marketing department downstairs needed his help! But he is really nice and helpful…” Renee was saying, with a smile, when Allison interrupted her.

“And he is the Monster’s cousin, so…”

“Monster?” Neil asked, confused at the name.

“Andrew Minyard.” Matt replied, and everyone looked around like the man could suddenly appear from the simple echo of his name.

“He is not a lawyer like us… Well, he is, but he is like this genius lawyer.” Dan said and Neil noticed Kevin’s grimace. “Well, you are the one that said he was better than all of us without even trying!” Dan replied, apparently she noticed Kevin’s reaction as well and didn’t have an ounce of patience for him. “He even has his own office, while we share this floor…”

“That’s because Wymack thought he would kill us if he had to be with us for a long period of time…” Matt said and Dan looked at him with an expression that clearly said _you are not helping_.

“Andrew is not very good at prolonged social interactions…” Renee said, clearly trying to find the words to describe the situation in the nicest way.

“He is a psycho, that’s what he is!” Allison replied, like it would end the discussion, and walked towards her desk.

Apparently everyone agreed with Allison, except for Renee, because no one disputed that affirmation. Neil felt a heavy weight in his stomach at those words, but before something else could be said, Neil was roped into the office’s shenanigans. Dan showed Neil where he was supposed to sit and started showing him what he was supposed to do and how. They worked together for close to one hour, before newcomers made everyone groan under their breaths.

The first man walking into the office was very tall and thin, with a cruel smile on his face that made Neil’s hackles rise.

“Another win, bitches!” the man said when he approached them with a smug smile on his face.

“Yes, Seth, we know… you texted us a thousand times already…” Matt sighed, while behind Seth another man walked in and Neil froze for a moment, until he realized who it really was.

“Hey, Aaron, did this shithead give you trouble?” Allison asked and Seth scoffed at her.

Aaron rubbed his temples and looked around the office, until he found Neil and Dan sitting together at a desk.

“New kid in the block?” Aaron asked and Dan nodded.

“Neil Josten. These are Seth Gordon and Aaron Minyard.” Dan replied and Neil nodded at Aaron and Seth, as a way of acknowledging them. If it was possible Seth’s scoff got more pronounced when he looked at Neil and then at Allison seeing her evil smile in full display.

“He is a puppy, look at him!” Allison exclaimed and Seth turned his back on her to go and write his report of the case.

“Don’t mind Seth, he is an asshole.” someone said from behind Aaron and the blonde jumped at the sudden voice.

"Fuck you!" Seth replied with a cruel sneer.

“Nicky!” Renee waved at him and Nicky waved back. “I thought you wouldn’t be back today…”

“I forgot my flash drive and I had the newest references in there. And luckily I did! Who is this cutie?” Nicky smiled at Neil.

The auburn-haired man scrunched his forehead at the giddiness exuding from the other man and he looked at Aaron Minyard, wondering how they could be cousins. Clearly, the two Minyards and their cousin made a weird family.

"Neil Josten." Neil nodded at him, but Nicky took his hand inside his own.

“Nicky Klose!” Nicky said, shacking Neil’s hand. He could feel a large ring against his fingers, the gold cold at the touch. “If only I wasn’t married… but hence, I’m a faithful husband! My Erik deserves the best!” and his eyes adopted a dreaming expression that somehow made him look younger.

Before Nicky left to the marketing department again, he made Neil promise to have dinner with them sometime that week for a bonding exercise. Before being able to really think about what he had just agreed to, Nicky was moving away, like a controlled hurricane, that instead of destruction actually left happiness in his track.

Restarting work was a welcome thing for Neil. Social interactions and extrovert people were mysteries to him, while the law and its study was as familiar as the warm sweater he liked to use at home. It was all so confusing, the need to talk loud and excitedly and share every bit of information about themselves, when the biggest confessions he ever made were done by silences and soft gestures. Neil shook his head, dispersing those thoughts, and paid attention to what Dan was telling him.

However, as soon as the big clock on the wall chimed that it was 1 pm, every lawyer in the office, even Seth that tried as hard as he could to be different from everyone, rose from their chairs and walked towards the elevators. Neil looked around, confused, and Renee, taking pity on him, actually told him they were going out to have lunch and he should join them as well.

“Well, I’m not really hungry, I will eat later.” Neil replied, knowing that spending another minute with the bunch of them was going to silently keep him from being able to breathe properly.

Neil knew, when choosing this life, that he would have to contact with a multitude of different people, however, knowing in theory and actually living it were very different things. During his teenage years he barely had contact with anyone else beside his mother and then in college he kept himself from everyone with one exception. Now, in the middle of the rambunctious lawyers, he was having difficulty keeping up with all of them. He needed a breather and lunch break was definitely a good one.

When the lawyers kept being refused by Neil, they all left, leaving him finally alone. He sighed and stretched, drinking from his sports drink and eating a few sandwiches from his bag. He was still recovering from a flu and his system was trying to recover without the help of any kind of medication. The cacophony of the voices made his headache grow, but now, in the quiet he felt relieved and calm for the first time since he stepped out of bed that morning.

The silence of the office made him look towards the only source of mystery in that place. He could see the plaque with “ ** _Andrew Minyard_** ” written on it, and he could still remember his colleagues’ words about their colleague. However, before his mind could go on a loop, he heard movement behind him and turning around faced Seth, who was walking slowly towards him.

“Hey, Josten, can you do me a favor?” Seth asked, and Neil wondered where the rest of the group was. “Minyard needs these copies for his case, can you bring it to him? I have to go downstairs and he always takes forever to open the door.” Neil looked at Seth, sensing in his easy demeanor, the trap in there. He wondered if that was the reason he returned sooner, so the others couldn’t stop his childish prank. Neil wondered what to do, but, at last minute, decided to bite the bullet. He wanted to enter that office anyway.

“Of course, there’s no problem.” Neil rose from his chair, accepted the papers Seth gave him and turned around, walking towards Andrew Minyard’s door.

When he reached the door and as soon as he had knocked, the elevator door opened and the rest of his colleagues poured out. As soon as they saw him and what he was doing, they shared companionable expressions of fear and shock. Matt even tried to run and stop him, but it was clear to all of them that he had already knocked.

When a voice from the inside invited him in, and before Neil actually closed the door behind himself, he could hear Seth’s malicious chuckle and a mix of groans and sighs from the rest of them, including Allison’s “There goes our murder free day.”.

And then the door was closed and the sounds from outside were almost completely shut down.

When Neil actually looked inside the office he was met with big windows with a view over the city and the shortest buildings around theirs. At his back, walls kept the office from his peers’ curious eyes, but in front of him everything was open and wide, even the big mahogany desk. Except the man sitting behind it, with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was blonde and wore a black Armani suit, clearly fitted for him. Neil felt his lungs freeze inside his chest. Andrew Minyard was sitting behind his work desk, observing Neil with curiosity in his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Minyard asked and Neil looked back at the closed door.

“Seth asked me to bring you some documents for your case.” Neil approached the desk and extended his arms to show Minyard the material in question.

“You know he did it to prank you, right?” the blonde replied and Neil nodded.

“He isn’t as good as he thinks he is. I wonder how he wins the cases if he can’t lie that well.” Neil answered back and he saw a pale eyebrow rise at his words.

“So, you know why he asked you to come here and you still came.” Minyard’s voice was bored. His body was draped over the chair, his left leg crossed over the right one and his foot moving in the air to a soundless tune.

“Yes…” Neil answered truthfully and he would have answered more if a sudden piercing pain didn’t make him stop talking and wince. He closed his eyes, trying to make the pain go away as quickly as it appeared.

Andrew Minyard immediately rose from the chair and walked around the desk, only stopping when he was right in front of Neil.

Neil opened his eyes to see a pair of hazel irises observing him. It would look blank in anyone else, but not on Andrew Minyard, at least, not to Neil’s eyes.

“Fucking idiot, I told you to stay home!” Minyard reproached, while his hand hovered over Neil’s forehead.The  _Are you okay?_ was left unsaid.

“Yes.” Neil answered, knowing the unasked question, and when the cold hand touched his forehead he sighed in relieve.

“You don’t have a fever…”

“I don’t…”

“You have a headache…”

“Not all the time, it comes and goes. I think the windows are too bright.”

Before Neil could say anything else, the windows’ glass was darkening, letting a darker tonality fall over the office.

“You don’t have to do that, I know you like the sun.” Neil said, observing the same hazel eyes scrunch at his words.

“I don’t like anything.” Andrew’s voice was a drawl and Neil smiled at its familiarity. After an entire morning of working and stressing, hearing his blank tone was a balm to his nervous system.

“Except my smart mouth… and my abs… and my…” but before Neil could finish, Andrew closed the distance between them and with his mouth almost glued to Neil’s, whispered a yes or no question.

Neil answered back with his lips closing the distance between them and Andrew’s, and before he could really think about what they were doing in the middle of Andrew’s office, the blonde was moving them, until Neil’s back hit the wall and he huffed inside Andrew’s mouth.

Andrew was kissing over Neil’s white shirt, moving down until he was kneeling in front of the other man.

“Andrew!” Neil exclaimed. “Are the walls sound…” but the rest of the sentence ended in a moan when Andrew took him in his mouth.

During the moments it took him to come, he could barely think, nevertheless worry about the sounds he was making. And if Andrew’s demeanor was anything to go by, he couldn’t care less.

When Andrew rose to his feet, after making sure Neil was presentable, the auburn-haired man was ready to buckle down and just sit on the floor. And that’s exactly what he did.

“So, rough day?” Andrew asked, after sitting next to him on the floor.

“A bit… Seth is an asshole, but the rest of them are nice. I met Nicky and Aaron, by the way.” Neil replied and Andrew scoffed.

“I figured, since you all work in the same space.”

“Well, it was weird meeting them after what you told me about your life together. They have no idea who I am and I know a lot of stuff about their domestic lives. What do you think if I offer Aaron that lemon pie he likes so much or give Nicky that chocolate mousse he taught you how to do?” Neil asked and Andrew’s hand squeezed his.

“That you are a psycho stalker… no news there…” was Andrew’s only answer and Neil smiled.

For a few moments they sat there, in silence, their fingers intertwined. Neil let his head fall over Andrew’s shoulder and sighed, before rising slowly from that comfortable position.

“I liked this kind of recess, but I have to go.” he looked back once to see Andrew still sitting on the floor, playing with one of his lighters and he waved his hand slowly. Andrew showed him his tongue and Neil chuckled under his breathe.

When he opened the door and left the office, what they had just done was the main thing on his mind. What if the walls weren’t sound proofed? What if everyone heard him moan? What if everyone heard him grunting Andrew’s name when he finally released his tension? Looking down and praying to every saint he didn’t believe in, Neil walked to his desk.

“Baby, you don’t have to blush…” Allison said, when she saw him, and for a second Neil thought his world was going to implode. “All of us received our share of Monsters Inc. You are still the good lawyer Wymack and Abby know you to be, don’t let his psychopathy get you down!” and Allison tried to mess with his hair, before he froze and almost jumped out of her way.

Allison was left with her hand hovering over empty air, and her shocked eyes observing Neil’s fight or flight reaction. Apparently she was not the only one that noticed, because Renee’s worried voice quickly sounded in the silent office.

“Neil, is everything alright?”

Kevin was currently typing on his computer, but a quick glance at Neil made him scrunch his nose.

“If you can’t take Andrew’s words you are a lousy lawyer. Maybe you should study more instead of wasting time looking at Allison like you are doing now.” he commented, and Renee looked at him in sad patience.

“I’m sorry.” Allison said, noticing the way Neil was still watching her.

Behind Neil, Aaron’s eyes were like an eagle’s, looking between Allison and the rookie.

Dan and Matt were the ones to defuse the tension.

“Don’t you love when Andrew calls us insufferable assholes?”

“Or so incompetent that we don’t even blip in his radar?”

“He can be so imaginative, right?” Renee joined in their attempt and Neil breathed a bit easier.

He sat on his chair, still berating himself for his reaction, and when Dan passed him and left a Starbucks coffee cup on his desk he felt even worse. She said nothing and Neil kept silent, but he drank his coffee slowly and when he finished, he caught Dan’s merry eyes observing him before she quickly averted them.

When the day finally ended, Neil was ready to kill someone for a piece of quiet. He was waiting for the green light to let him cross the street with safety, when he had to quickly hide behind a dumpster when noticing Nicky leaving the building, chatting with Renee. He could hear their laughter, while they walked towards the subway, and Neil sighed at being able to hide, until he saw Renee look back and wave at him, with a soft smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil finds himself wishing for something and fearing at the same time, while Andrew once again burns the bridges Neil tries to create between him and his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know stuff doesn't work like this in lawyers' offices, but I wanted to let Neil witness some of his colleagues working, and create a bridge into the next chapter.

Neil was boiling water when he heard the key jingle inside the door lock. The cats, that until now, were moving around his ankles, meowing for attention, immediately took off to welcome the newcomer.

“Traitors!” Neil accused, however when Andrew appeared in the threshold, stepping around the cats so no one ended up injured, he smiled openly at the blonde.

“I hate when you look at me like that.” Andrew replied and if possible Neil’s smile widened.

“Maybe you should pay me to stop…” Neil said slyly, turning around to check on the water for the tea.

“I already pay you.” Andrew answered, closing the distance between them and sitting on the kitchen bench, observing Neil preparing the tea.

“No, you don’t. Wymack does. Even if you are their _genius lawyer_ …” Andrew scoffed at Neil’s words. “Hey, Dan’s words, not mine. I have no idea what is so special about you, anyway.”

“Oh really?” Andrew replied and rising from the bench, closed on Neil.

“Andrew! The tea!” Neil squealed, when he felt Andrew’s hands on his waist. “We will end up in the emergency room with third degree burns!”

Andrew rolled his eyes at Neil’s exaggeration, but still stepped back, while Neil took a tray with a tea kettle, two cups and sugar towards the adjacent living room.

“So, how were your colleagues? Are you ready to start killing them?” Andrew asked, while pouring sugar on his cup, under Neil’s offended look.

“They are your colleagues as well, Andrew. One day you will recognize their worth.” Neil presaged and Andrew actually huffed, his way of laughing at something Neil said. Until now, Neil had yet to see that reaction with anyone else. “And your brother and cousin! They are your family!”

“You know my opinion of family. Blood means nothing.” Andrew said and Neil sighed.

Andrew had told Neil years ago about his strained relationship with his brother and cousin. A brother that he killed his own mother for, that ended up hating him for it, and a cousin that returned from his happy life in Germany with his boyfriend in tow to raise the twins as their legal guardian. Neil knew that during Andrew's teen years he maintained a deal with Aaron, of sticking by each other and keeping everyone else a safe distance away, after Andrew protected Aaron from their abusive mother by making her crash the car they were in, ending in her death. And until Katelyn appeared Aaron kept his part of the deal. And then he didn't, and Andrew couldn't forgive him for that, after all the things he did to save Aaron from the drugs their mother hooked him in, and sheltered from the outside world. Neil tried, more than once, to explain that their deal was unhealthy, the brothers couldn't keep living like satellites of each other, any day a meteor would come crashing down and destroy that balance. And every time Neil said that, Andrew turned his back on him and started random conversations with the cats. Trying to defend Nicky, that tried to keep their family together by supporting Aaron's choice and try to convince Andrew that it was the right time for them to meet new people and act more independently, always ended in the same way. 

“Just because Aaron ended your deal so he could stay with Katelyn… and Nicky tried to support him…” Neil started and Andrew glared at him. “They deserved happiness! What if we met at the time and Aaron made you give up on me?” Neil tried to convince Andrew, but the man was having none of it, and slurping his tea the loudest he could, Andrew effectively ended the conversation.

For now.

Neil was known for his epic stubbornness.

 

* * *

 

 

When, the next day, Neil was invited by Dan to accompany her in one of her court cases, the man immediately jumped into the opportunity of finally seeing some action. He knew his worth at discussing his cases, but he wanted to see how someone like Dan, older, more experienced, less impulsive, was able of defending her clients.

“This woman ran away from her husband when he tried to kill their young son during one of his rages.” Dan was explaining and Neil felt his stomach somersault. Maybe he should have thought better about accompanying Dan, since her cases came a bit too close to home. But now was too late, he had to swallow the bile that rose in his throat and nod at her explanation when it felt right. If Dan noticed his vacant expression she didn’t say anything.

Watching Dan at court was like watching the old myths of Amazones take place in real life. She was ruthless, accusing the man of crime after crime, making sure everything he ever did wrong ended up being described in her strong, stable voice, until the jury was nodding at her every word. When the lawyer sat next to Neil, she smiled at him.

“That’s how you put a bastard behind bars!” Dan said, and for a moment Neil felt like smiling as well, until he remembered that, in his case, it took much more than a serious beating to put his own nightmare behind bars. It took homicide and scars and a life-long of nightmares.

During their trip back to the office, Neil was quiet, wondering if someone like Dan took his and his mother’s side before everything went to hell, how their lives could have been changed. How maybe she could be alive right now, ripping him away from everything he held dear, always running from their shadows, unable to settle down even if their nightmare was safely away behind prison bars. Or how maybe she was able of living a normal life and would visit his and Andrew’s place from time to time, nagging at Andrew’s cigarette smoke.

Shaking his head, Neil dispersed those thoughts. It wasn’t good to play pretend. His mother was dead, she was dead for the last seven years and she wouldn’t be coming back to take him away. Neil wasn’t sure, even after all these years, how he felt about that reality.

When they arrived at the office, Neil jumped from the car, barely waiting for Dan to park, and almost run to the building. He could hear Dan’s heels clacking behind him.

“Neil, are you okay?” Dan asked, when she finally caught up with him, in front of the still closed elevator.

“I’m fine.” Neil replied, without looking at her.

Dan’s expression clearly showed she didn’t believe him, but all her tries at starting a conversation were met with platitudes and short answers. She ended up giving up, sighing at Neil’s closed off posture.

 

* * *

 

 

­­­­

On his third day, Nicky arrived at Neil’s desk with his arms full of files. Neil could barely see the top of Nicky’s head, and his heart hammered when he concluded all those were for him to work through. He looked around, expecting it to be another prank, but no one was paying any kind of attention, not even Seth, who was grumbling under his breath while listening to the D.A., talking on the phone.

“Wymack likes us to choose our first case, he says it says a lot about the kind of lawyer we are… So, read through these and choose one.” Nicky said and Neil felt his heartbeat slow down.

“I think it’s the wrong way to go. You should have a lot of cases right from the start, it would help multitask and prepare for the future.” Kevin’s voice echoed from behind Neil and he turned on his desk to see said man scoffing at him and Nicky.

“I’m sorry all of us aren’t obsessed with work and we actually have families to go back to!” Nicky replied at him, sarcastically and Kevin rolled his eyes at him.

“I have a family too!” Kevin answered back and Nicky was the one rolling his eyes this time.

“Thea is as crazy as you are. I wonder what kind of stuff you talk about after sex, probably who got the biggest hard on after winning a case.” Nicky said and Neil’s eyes widened a bit at discovering Kevin actually had a girlfriend or a wife. For what he saw during the last two days it appeared he only lived to work and be the best.

Kevin snapped at him to shut up and Nicky laughed back at him, before walking towards his desk.

It was funny how with every tidbit he learned about his colleagues, Neil was becoming a bit more curious about them. Like Kevin’s girlfriend or the weird relationship between Allison and Seth, which he was privy to, just this morning, when he saw them arriving in the same car, and Seth actually smiling, for once. Or the way Aaron’s eyes shone when he talked about Katelyn and their dogs with Renee. Or how, just yesterday, Matt tried to teach him a magic trick, unprompted.

It was dangerous, letting himself intertwine with them when he had so much to hide. His past, his scars, his family, his history with Andrew… Andrew was so connected with his secrets, that letting the Foxes know about them would eventually lead to them know about his family as well, his father and mother, what he did to survive, what he went through.

Neil always thought being a lawyer was perfect for him. They were known for being ruthless, for their wish to win, for their sometimes unethical ways, for their egos. But here, in this office, his coworkers were strangely different from his former colleagues. Nicky joked about Kevin’s obsessive habit of hiding the lawyers' chocolates and replace them with fruits, Renee discussed her future hair color with Matt, Dan and Allison brought some kind of concoction they did together last night when Matt went with Seth to see a game and Aaron talked about Katelyn’s hospital shift and how she was able of saving a little kid’s life just last night. They talked with each about each other and it made Neil fear and wish for that kind of skill. Talk just to talk, with nothing behind it, like he did with Andrew since they met. It was a dream, he knew, but nonetheless, something he sometimes caught himself wishing for.

 

* * *

 

 

By the beginning of that afternoon, Neil saw Andrew’s office door open and his eyes followed the blonde’s movement around the office, until he stopped to talk with Renee about the case he was going to have that afternoon. Andrew, probably feeling the stare on the back of his head, slowly turned around and glared at Neil. Neil shrugged, not really worried at being caught by Andrew, and was ready to go back to work when a booming voice spoke from the other usually closed office of their floor.

"Hey, maggots!"

Neil looked around to see Wymack standing by the threshold. He had no idea the man was in the building. David Wymack no longer worked court cases, choosing to teach instead. He had an aura of respect and energy around him that Neil thought wasted on teaching the majority of the time, but for what he heard, Wymack liked seeing his students develop into good lawyers instead of winning case after case. In that regard he was just like his wife Abby Winfield, a lawyer that only worked with the social system, helping with adoption papers and kids in dangerous situations. Neil knew that was how she met Andrew, through a mutual friend of them working in the system as well.

Wymack's eyes roamed over the room, making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be, until they stopped on Neil for a fraction of time longer than with anyone else.

"Everything alright, kid? Are you ready to run away from this loony bin?" the older man asked and Neil smirked.

"It's been only three days..." Neil replied and Nicky gasped in fake shock.

Wymack rolled his eyes at Neil's answer, and his eyes moved again, searching for someone, until they stopped on Andrew and Renee, still talking next to her desk.

“Andrew, why won’t you take Neil with you, today?” Wymack suggested and everyone gasped, with the exception of Neil and Andrew. Andrew only rose one of his eyebrows and Neil looked confused at Wymack. “It would be a good learning experience for him, since he is more experienced in contracts and mergers and all that economical part. It’s beneficial to have knowledge about all fields.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Neil asked, and Andrew’s eyes changed infinitesimally, too small a change for anyone else to notice. Neil knew how important choice was for Andrew, when he lived the majority of his life lacking people that gave him options and the freedom to live with them. Neil would not be one of those people that took away Andrew’s choice. If he wanted him to go he would, but if he didn’t, Neil would stay there, studying files.

Andrew turned his back on all of them and Neil nodded, understanding his preference. However, when he was getting ready to restart his perusing of the files Nicky brought him, Andrew spoke.

“Rookie, I’m not waiting all day for you.”

Neil looked up, noticed Andrew standing next to the elevators, with his arms crossed in front of his chest and how everyone else was looking at Andrew as well. Trying to save him from the scrutiny, Neil was like a flash, grabbing his pencil, legal pad and bag and almost running to follow Andrew into the opening doors of the elevator. Before they closed, Neil heard Dan ask Wymack if he thought it was the best approach, and Kevin saying it was the best approach, defending that Neil needed much more experience than the one he currently had.

“They are probably very curious why Wymack gave me this opportunity, when not even my internship company took me," Neil said as soon as the doors closed, his eyes stuck on Andrew's hazel irises. "and why he has the patience for you and Dan to show me the rounds.” Neil concluded, and Andrew looked at him with an impatient light on his eyes.

“If you want me to start singing you a ballad about your abilities as a lawyer you came to the wrong person.” Andrew said.

“I know, you are an awful singer. I still have nightmares about you trying to belt that Queen song.” Neil replied and Andrew scoffed at him. He only did it because a) he wanted to win a bet, and b) he wanted to check how far he could test the cats before they turned on him.

During their car trip, like usual, Neil hold Andrew’s hand, using that opportunity to tell him about the cases Nicky dropped on his desk.

“Yes, Wymack is funny that way.” Andrew replied, keeping his answers about the matter short. Neil knew Andrew was giving him the most neutral response, so Neil wouldn't feel swayed about his choice.

“Do you think he knows about us? I thought it weird for him to suggest this, since for all he knows, I should want only distance from you.” Neil asked and Andrew shrugged.

“Wymack might look like a boisterous middle aged man, but there’s a reason why he built that office from scratch and didn’t give up in the middle of it. He can see what other people can’t, that’s what makes him a good lawyer.”

“And why you respect him.” Neil completed and Andrew rolled his eyes at him.

“He actually believes he can do some good in the world, and that makes him either delusional or very naïve.” Andrew said, his fingers playing with Neil’s.

“But it’s good to have some hope in the future.” Neil replied, bringing Andrew’s knuckles to his lips and kissing them.

“Do you have some hope in the future?” Andrew asked and Neil’s eyes squinted at him, like he wasn’t sure Andrew was serious or not.

“I didn’t used to…” Neil answered.

“And now?” Andrew was goading him, Neil was sure, but he was going to take the bait willingly.

“Now, I can see myself growing old with this grumpy blonde man by my side and not fear every shadow on the way home.” Neil’s voice was now a whisper.

“Stop looking at me like that!” Andrew replied, without turning to face Neil. He was looking at the traffic lights in front of them, but Neil could see the tip of his ears turning a pale pink.

“How do you know how I’m looking at you?” Neil asked, with a smile.

“Because when you get all mushy and soft I know the way you look.” Andrew’s voice was harsh.

“You think I’m soft? Andrew!” Neil gasped in a high pitched voice and Andrew’s lips moved up without his express command. “A dream come true!”

“Fucking idiot!” Andrew replied.

“Your idiot!” Neil answered back.

Andrew would never say out loud just how those words made his heart, frozen for years, beat so fast every time he heard them.

But he was sure Neil knew.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil sees Andrew working and instead of actually enjoying it, worries about the effect of certain kind of cases on Andrew's mind. Hence a trip down memory lane and about Neil's and Andrew's pasts.

Seeing Andrew in court again, after all those years, was a very jarring thing.

The first time Neil saw Andrew on court, Andrew was an intern on Wymack’s office and Wymack himself was defending Neil from any connections with his father's crimes, while trying to clear any other kind of accusations that might arise against the young man.

* * *

 

Neil and his mother had escaped his mobster father when Neil was only ten years old. At that time, Neil had been called Nathaniel Wesninski. And Nathan Wesninski had tried to use his only child as a deliveryman for his drugs and guns’s deals, when he felt the FBI’s eyes on him. A child could go under the radar, never rising a suspicion, and Nathan had one right beside him. He used Nathaniel a couple of times, until one of the deals went sour, and the boy barely escaped with his life. Nathaniel knew to always follow his Father’s orders, he feared the punishment that would follow if he did some mistake, so he was always extra careful.

He could still remember how the pain of a bullet crossing his skin, for the first time, felt like. After that, it happened many times during the years, but until then, the biggest pain Nathaniel had felt was of a hot iron against his shoulder. Somehow, the pain from the bullet felt harder to understand, one second he was giving the drugs his father sent as payment for some kind of service, the next one the men were yelling about being deceived and guns were being pulled out. With the hot iron he had seen his father getting ready to hurt him, with the bullet it was a wild movement from one of the men that ended up with him running away, grabbing his arm while blood poured out of his body. When his father saw him, Nathaniel feared he had done a bigger mistake by running home, but for once his mother defended him, and accused the men of their misdemeanor. Nathan left then, without punishing Nathaniel, to understand what went wrong.

For the first time, Nathaniel saw his mother lose control over her features while in close vicinity to his father, and the profound hatred marring her features disturbed her beautiful face into something blood thirsty.

And finally his mother had had enough and took Nathaniel and five million dollars with them, to never go back willingly. For years, they lived on the road, fearing their shadows, changing identities, running away from bullets and blades, gaining scars and nightmares every time they thought about taking a breath. Until, seven years later, Nathan Wesninski caught up with them and killed his runaway wife.

They had been closer to home than ever, but Mary had needed to meet with one of her contacts and thought they would be able to get in and out of the state without being found. Unfortunately, she was wrong and ended up paying the biggest price for her mistake.

And Nathaniel, or Chris as he was called at that point, would have followed on her footsteps if the closest to a miracle that the young man had ever seen didn’t happen right on time. Nathan was getting ready to make his son pay as he only  knew how, when the place the runaways had been hiding for the last two days  and that just served as his mother’s graveyard, was invaded by yelling men with guns. It took everyone inside a couple of seconds to understand what was going on, but by then, Nathan was already on his knees with his hands on handcuffs. Chris finally understood that the FBI had caught up with Nathan, finally having proof of a crime committed by him, and then Chris blinked, once, twice and the third time Nathaniel opened his eyes and realized he got saved from hours of torture and finally death. However, he had seen his mother die, screaming in pain with every slash and every hit. It was something he would never forget. And he had the scars to prove it, across his neck where he felt his blood run and knew he was going to die, when he was found and saved.

David Wymack, at that time, worked with the social system, as a side job, beside his office work. It was where he had met his wife Abigail Winfield, many years before. She was actually the one that asked him to help Nathaniel Wesninski throughout his father’s trial.

Abby met Nathaniel when the police brought him to a foster house that only dealt with special cases like his, to wait for his father’s trial, so he could testify. She was helping another kid in a legal matter, and saw the arrival of the young man with injuries in his face and lifeless blue eyes that chilled her to the core. He was almost a man, but he was still a minor, and knowing Abby from her work, the agent accompanying Nathaniel’s case, asked if she could take the job, since the boy refused to speak with anyone from the agency.

Abby had felt her heart break when she saw the boy’s sad blue eyes look at her. She knew she had too much work to be able of providing the help the boy really needed, but she knew just the man for the job, and so, she called her husband and explained the situation to him. It took David thirty minutes to arrive and only because he couldn’t find his car’s keys between the mess of papers all over his office.

When Nathaniel saw the big man enter the room where he was sitting on, he almost fused with the wall in his motion to hide away. Wymack noticed his reaction and immediately stepped back, yelling for Abby to join him, hoping a female figure could help dissipate the boy’s fears.

Without taking his eyes from Wymack's hands, that were resting on the table that was keeping Abby and Wymack on one side and Nathaniel on the other, Nathaniel heard what Abby and Wymack proposed, with growing shock at every word they said.

“We want to help you. We are used to deal with cases like these…” Abby was saying.

“You are used to work with runaways mobsters’ sons that saw their mothers being cut open? That spent the last seven years of their lives running away from said mobster fathers? I’m sorry if I think that is hard to believe.” Nathaniel’s best weapon was his mouth and he was going to make use of it, if only to try and hurt people like he was hurting himself.

“You are such a fucking idiot! There’s no surprise you got caught.” A voice spoke from the threshold and Nathaniel turned to see a blonde man, probably a few years older than him. However he was shorter than Nathaniel and didn’t look like much, which gave Nathaniel much more spite at his words.

“Fuck you!”

“Not on a first date, kid. We still have to know each other.” The man’s mouth was a blank line, like he was trying to keep any and all emotions from his face.

“Fuck you, smurf!” Nathaniel barked again.

“Lack of imagination, I hope you have more vocabulary than that or else you will make our work much more difficult.” The man replied, with no care in his voice, while he entered the room and sat on the tabletop, close to Wymack's elbow.

“Andrew, so kind of you to join us with your merry nature.” Wymack ironized, grabbing a chair and motioning for Andrew to sit on it instead of the table. “So, Nathaniel, before this midget kindly interrupted us… we have experience defending minors, sons of criminals, that the system gave up on… and we are ready to fight for you if you let us. Believe in us, kid, and let us give you another chance at life.”

Nathaniel was quiet, looking between David Wymack and Abby Winfield, ignoring the newcomer for now. Was he ready to have hope again? To believe these two strangers when they gave him another option from being implicated in his father’s doings? Who knew what the FBI could come up with to make him talk? He had no idea of his rights! He did illegal things while on the run, forging identities, carrying illegal weapons, injuring his father’s men. He could end up in jail as well, he was almost eighteen. He could be trialed as an adult!

“Yes.” Nathaniel ended up saying, hoping he wasn’t once again being deceived by cruel people. There was a small flicker of hope growing on his chest, but Nathaniel refused to help it grow, it would only make things harder when everything went down once again.

During the months the trial took place, Wymack fought for Nathaniel like no else did before, helping clean his name from any association with his father, while waiting for nothing in return. Andrew Minyard was by then, at 22 years old, already a prodigy in the field, even if he was only an intern. And he was the only person from Wymack's office to know about the Wesninski case. It was FBI stuff, secretive and dangerous, and Andrew was the person Wymack trusted with that kind of heaviness, knowing what the man had been through. Knowing he had the stomach to actually work with it.

However, at first, Nathaniel and Andrew’s relationship was far from amicable. They spent hours together, going over everything from Nathaniel’s past, including all the times his father beat him, to all the injuries he had suffered while on the run. Not once, did Andrew express pity for him and that more than anything else made Nathaniel warm up towards Andrew.

“I need to take pictures.” Andrew said, one day, after they spent an entire day discussing the best way to prove Nathaniel’s words. Nathaniel had turned eighteen just a week ago, and the fear running through his blood stream of being trialed was more painful than ever.

The younger man had looked at Andrew like he was crazy and in a moment was moving backwards, away from Andrew.

“I take no pleasure in doing it, but we need to prove our story. And I sure as hell won’t have you take your shirt in a court.” Andrew replied. “But if you prefer we can have a doctor do it or Abby… it’s your choice, Wesninski.” Andrew said and Nathaniel flinched.

Andrew didn’t miss his reaction, but misread it.

“I won’t force you into anything, we will find another way.”

“I don’t…” Nathaniel whispered like a prayer and Andrew’s eyes, more than his face, showed his confusion. “I don’t like being called that.”

And Andrew realized what he meant by that. Nathaniel Wesninski was his father’s name or as close to it as it could get. And for a boy running away from his father for most of his life it must have been a heavyweight to carry.

“What should I call you?”

Nathaniel was silent for a long moment. He knew the name he wanted to give Andrew, it was on the tip of his tongue. He just wasn't sure if he could trust Andrew with one of his most prized possessions, the only good thing that still connected him to his mother. And then he took a chance and actually let Andrew have it and hopefully protect like Nathaniel had done since he was a child. His middle name, his grandfather's name.

“Abram.”

“Well, alright, Abram, let’s fuck that bastard, shall we?”

Before Nathaniel could control himself, his mouth opened in a big smile at hearing Andrew’s tongue roll around his name.

That smile did things to Andrew that he was not ready to explore.

And then, before Andrew could reorganize his thoughts and erase the warm feeling in his stomach that Nathaniel’s smile evoked, the young man was pulling his shirt off his body. If Andrew had the ability to blush, he would have.

The younger man was a bit taller than Andrew, which meant he was still short, however, his body was muscular and strong, built by years of running and hiding, of working out to keep in shape and ready to fight.

“It’s disgusting, I know.” Nathaniel interpreted Andrew’s silence as disgust when the man was trying very hard not to let his physical attraction show.

“Can I touch them?” Andrew asked and Nathaniel's eyes widened.

Andrew waited patiently while the other male weighted those words in his mind. The only other person that touched his scars was his mother and that was when she was sewing new injuries over old ones. He had no idea how he would react, but for the last few months, the only permanent presence in his life was Andrew, even more than Wymack, since the lawyer had decided that the two of them worked well together and wouldn’t kill each other for now.

Nathaniel had learned to trust Andrew. The man didn’t lie, didn’t give false hopes, didn’t sugarcoat his reality. And better yet, made Nathaniel curious, made him think in something else beside the trial and the foster home. Sometimes, Nathaniel even caught himself wondering what Andrew might be doing at certain moments, if he had cats (he once let it slip they were the only animals worth having because they took care of themselves), if he ate chocolate pizza for dinner like he threatened once when Nathaniel defended his lunch of granola bars and fruit, and actually worst of all, if he thought about Nathaniel besides the time he spent working on the case.

“Yes.” Nathaniel replied, before he could overthink it.

Andrew moved slowly, trying not to scare Nathaniel, and his fingers, strangely warm, draw shapes over Nathaniel’s body, connecting scars like constellations.

When Nathaniel shivered and almost moaned, Andrew immediately took his hand away like he had burned himself and Nathaniel blushed, while feeling bereft.

“Tomorrow I will bring a camera.” Andrew stated, before immersing himself in checking facts of Nathaniel's story.

However, after that afternoon, it was like a window opened and Nathaniel's mind was now conscious of new feelings and emotions. Like the way Andrew’s blonde hair under the setting sun made him feel, or how soft Andrew’s neck looked like or the way he liked to reproach Nathaniel.

One day, close to the trial itself, Nathaniel finally gave voice to one of his biggest fears.

"Andrew... can you and Wymack really win?  Can you keep me from ending up in prison with him?"

Andrew had stopped writing on his notepad and looked up at Nathaniel. For the first time he saw fear in those blue eyes of his.

"I will have your back no matter what. I will protect you and I will keep you out of jail even if it's the last thing I do. It's a promise." Andrew said and Nathaniel sighed.

 

"And one day I will go to you and give you something that will turn all this bad stuff into a good one." Nathaniel replied and Andrew nodded. He wasn't sure what Nathaniel could give him, but he was ready for it.   

However, that time of their lives reached an ending with the trial and Nathan’s imprisonment.

They had worked for months, making sure everything was as it should be, practicing Nathaniel’s testimony, fact checking, taking pictures of the scars Wymack deemed more important (he was never there for the pictures, Andrew relied everything to him, but put his foot down when Wymack suggested he could be there to help him with the images). And sometimes, little tidbits of information slipped into the serious conversations, like their favorite foods (Andrew, ice cream; Nathaniel, pasta), Andrew’s job and the places Nathaniel traveled through during his escape, and sometimes training their German, a thing in common that surprised both of them.

The day the FBI gave Nathaniel his new identity, Neil Abram Josten met Andrew Joseph Minyard for the first time in a rooftop. They were in a safe house of the FBI, with Wymack and Abby downstairs talking with Agent Browning, the man responsible for Neil’s future. But Neil knew he needed to talk with Andrew, alone, one last time.

“Thank you. You were amazing.” Neil hoped that Andrew knew he meant not only the case, but the support, the non-pitying look, the small slips of his life he gave Neil when he had nothing else to rely on, and especially his warm fingers on his skin. It had been the only time he had been touched with such care and would never forget it.

Before Neil could say anything else, Andrew had looked at him with such ferocity Neil felt breathless. It was astounding the way he got used to Andrew’s blank stare and seeing him with that expression unbalanced him.

“I hate you.” Andrew said and Neil deflated.

Andrew started walking towards the stairs.

“It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t blow you.”

Neil gasped and before Andrew could open the door, he ran and put himself between the blonde and the exit.

Andrew looked him in the eyes.

“Yes or no?”

“Yes.” Neil whispered and before he could think twice, he felt Andrew’s lips on his. It took him a lot of control to stop his fingers from wandering, but he had realized Andrew didn’t like to be touched without consent and Neil liked him too much to break that trust.

When they broke apart, Andrew walked away and closed the door behind him.

The trip to his new home hurt much more than Neil thought possible. He could still feel Andrew’s lips on his, but the worst part was Andrew’s departure from the roof without looking back. That night, Neil was laying over his new couch when he felt something poking him on the stomach. Checking his jacket and shirt, he found a paper on his jacket pocket with Andrew’s personal phone number, email and address. Neil Josten smiled softly and traced the number and letters written in Andrew’s messy handwriting.

For months, and then years, Neil wrote Andrew emails and text messages and even the sporadic letter, that always amused Andrew, and that every time he found in his letterbox, made an uncomfortable warm feeling bloom in his chest, that he stubbornly called stomach burn. He choose to ignore that that symptom only appeared under very specific circumstances, also known as Neil Josten.

The day Neil knocked on Andrew's door holding a law school acceptance letter was the day Neil Josten received not only a house key, but hope in a future he never thought possible. He had left the Witness Protection Program and was ready to start his life as a normal citizen. Andrew was all too eager at letting him in.

* * *

 

Now, three years later, watching once again Andrew, at court, talk in his blank tone, but still ensnaring the jury with his words and point blank facts, Neil felt like he couldn’t breathe properly, it was mesmerizing. Or it would be, if the case at hand didn’t involve a sexually abused minor. Neil always feared, every time Andrew represented a case like that, that he could get triggered, in the middle of the room, into a panic attack. Now, Neil, instead of being able to properly appreciate Andrew’s skill, was left with his heart in his hands, observing every small mannerisms, ready to do what he had no idea.

When the case ended and the jury decided the guilty verdict, Neil saw, for the first time, Andrew’s shoulders tense and his fists close until his knuckles turned white. These were the only physical signs that this case had affected him somehow, and Neil was the only one that could see them.

During the trip back, both were silent, not touching and not looking at each other. Neil’s mind took a trip down memory lane and before Neil could stop himself he was seeing him and Andrew, in their first small flat, sitting on the balcony, catless, and smoking under the first light of dawn. He could still remember, clearly, the way the words had been harsh at first, like Andrew was still unsure of what to say. But Andrew never told Neil anything without absolute certainty, and that day, when he spoke about his past was only one of many moments like those.

* * *

 

Andrew had been trying to keep his foster brother from meeting Aaron, a twin brother that he had just recently known about. He wanted to keep the man from hurting him like he had done to Andrew uncountable times, by stopping the adoption that his foster mother was trying to get. And what better way than once again showing the world what a monster he was? And what innocent people the Spears were, hurt by trying to help a kid in need. Seeing their car being destroyed and their neighbors’ yards vandalized, shops robbed and destroyed.

Abby had been the one lawyer to defend him on that case. She worked with the foster system, trying to get kids the help they couldn’t otherwise afford. She helped reduce Andrew’s sentence from five to three years, and had such an impact on him that, for the first time, he wondered about becoming a lawyer. Right after that thought crossed his mind he laughed at his own naivety.

After leaving juvie, Andrew didn’t contact Abby again. His life had moved on from that stranger’s help. He had gone to live with his brother and biological mother. He had killed his mother in a car crash after finding out she got Aaron hooked on drugs and beat him one too many times, got away with it being ruled an accident and went to live with Nicky, back from Germany and waiting for his boyfriend to get a job in the U.S. as well, and Aaron.

When Wymack met Andrew for the first time, it was through the colleague that represented him in the case that ended up with Andrew taking court-mandated drugs, after he saved Nicky from an almost deathly beating, by almost killing the four men attacking his cousin. That boy’s blank expression shocked Wymack that had just been there to give his colleague some files back. Wymack was no novice in the awful things of this world, but even that boy resounded something in him, and when commenting it at home, Abby immediately recognized him as the boy she had defended years ago.

But Abby had seen something in Andrew, and David’s words made her look for him, and when she met him again, while already on mood altering drugs (like he would be until he was 20 years old), she helped him once again by introducing him the best psychiatrist he could ever ask for, Dr. Betsy Dobson. A psychiatrist that to this day saw Andrew weekly, sometimes to help, sometimes to just drink a hot chocolate.

Wymack and Abby had done their best to help the brothers and their cousin enter their course of choice, even with their pasts sending a shadow over a lot of colleges’ acceptation. Luckily, Wymack was a teacher in one of them, and a private friend of the dean.

And finally, when everything felt like life could move on at its own calm pace, two detectives went to see Andrew and enroll him as a witness in a murder case. The murder case of Drake Spear, by one of his foster brothers that, by what the detectives said, was found with multiple marks of violence and clear signs of having been raped repeatedly. The boy had bashed Drake’s head on with a hockey stick, and when the emergency found him was clearly in shock, until someone tried to touch him and he lashed against everyone. Andrew knew all too well the feeling of unwanted touch and how that made the rest of world look like the enemy.  And he also knew that the person behind the detectives bringing him in and the rest of the foster children that lived on the Spear household was an Officer named Higgins. An officer that Andrew knew from his time in that house, that he knew suspected foul play behind those four walls and only got wrong the male culprit.

And only then, did Abby and Wymack really understand what Andrew had been through. And only then did Nicky cut any kind of relationship with his parents after Andrew told him that Nicky’s father knew all along and let other children suffer the same destiny as his nephew. And only then did Aaron try to get closer to his brother. Unfortunately, Andrew didn’t let Aaron go to the court to hear his testimony, he didn’t let either his cousin or brother read the files on the case, and in the end, they were left with a detached knowledge of Andrew’s past. It was not like seeing in real life what Drake did to Andrew. Andrew sometimes wondered if they had ever seen him covered in blood and shivering on a bed, with his body aching from the violence, how different their lives could have been after that. And the majority of the time, Andrew thanked whatever fucking luck he got in a small percentage that neither of them had ever seen anything like that. He wouldn’t want them to have that kind of picture in their mind.

* * *

 

With all his past, and his family’s, so intertwined with Wymack and Abby, more than once, Andrew stated he hated being in debt with the couple, that paying his debt was the only reason he worked so hard at winning. Neil pretended to believe him, but he knew Andrew felt pride in putting those bastards behind bars, to let the other prisoners lay down their own punishment against those kinds of crimes.

“I can hear your thinking. Stop it!” Andrew suddenly said, when he parked the Maserati in his parking spot, at the office. “If I knew you would be like that, I wouldn’t have brought you with me…”

“I was…”

“Pitying me?” Andrew kept refusing to look at Neil.

“What?! No, never! I was worried what kind of reaction a case like that could trigger on you. I didn’t know what to expect!” Neil tried to explain his reaction and Andrew finally looked at him.

“I don’t need your worry, Neil! I’m the one that’s supposed to protect you, not the other way around.” Andrew said, grabbing Neil’s jacket.

“What? When did we agree on that?” Neil asked.

“When I said I would have your back, when you asked me if Wymack and I could win against that man. I promised you I would protect you!”

“Yes, and when I went to live with you and you told me of your former deal with Aaron, I told you we wouldn’t be together because of a deal! That I would be with you because I wanted! Not because I wanted to give you something to turn the bad into good.” Neil’s voice was rising in anxiety, remembering the words he had replied with when Andrew made his promise.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t keep my side!” Andrew and Neil rubbed his temples.

“So, while I thought you understood what I meant, you actually kept the deal in your mind. Are you with me, after all these years because of that deal?!” Neil’s voice was no longer angry, it was hurt and sad.

“The fuck? Of course not! Are you stupid as well as blind?” Andrew asked and shook Neil by the front of his jacket.

“Then break it now!” Neil demanded and Andrew let his jacket go.

“What?”

“I don’t want a deal between us. I don’t want this kind of unbalance! Or you break it or the deal of protecting goes both ways!” Neil stated, giving no other option.

Andrew rubbed his temples in angry gestures. Neil waited, but Andrew kept silent and their old conversation, of how Aaron broke their deal for another person, echoed inside Neil’s head and he gasped softly.

“I won’t leave you, Andrew! Not because of this! I could never jeopardize what we have just because of a deal! But I want to stand on the same level as you! I don’t want you to protect me just because of a deal, but because you care about me! How can I stand on my own two feet if I always feel like you can swipe in and save me from the villain?” Neil closed his eyes and sighed. “Andrew, can I kiss you?”

Andrew looked at Neil surprised, but nonetheless he whispered a yes.

Neil closed the distance between them and kissed Andrew softly on the neck.

“I’d…” one kiss. “… die…” another kiss. “…for you…” and then he actually kissed Andrew’s lips.

“You are a fucking cheater.” Andrew grumbled. “When someone breaks your face don’t come crying for help!” Neil smiled at Andrew, kissing him again.

“Do you think the cameras can see into the car?” Neil asked and Andrew rose his eyebrows. “I don’t want to give them a porn show.”

Andrew huffed, keeping the laugh inside, but barely.

“You are insane.” Andrew said.

“But you still love me!” Neil replied.

“I hate you!”

“I know, dear! That’s what I just said! No need to repeat me.” Neil was now laughing out loud, all tension gone from their conversation.

And Andrew was just looking at Neil, remembering how this man just said that, during all their time in court, he kept worrying about Andrew, how he didn’t want their relationship to be based on a deal, how he just laughed out loud at a silly conversation they had, how Andrew felt the air leave his lips in a silent laugh...

He did hate this man so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, in this one Aaron doesn't kill Drake. That moment was a very turning point for them and I don't believe they would have drifted apart if Aaron actually saw how messed up Andrew was after Drake's attack.   
> Since there is no Exy I had to recreate Nathaniel's past and the reason for Mary to finally snap and run away with him.  
> I hope I didn't mess up with their pasts, because I kind of rewrote it in a couple of hours because I didn't like how it felt before, but kept some things from the first draft, so if you see anything weird please tell me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil chooses his first case, that will rise more than a few worried opinions about it.

Neil left Andrew smoking by the car, alone, something the blonde man requested of him and Neil was quick to oblige. He knew Andrew, sometimes, needed time and space to understand his own emotions. When he felt that he was needed, Neil always stayed, but when he knew his presence would make things worse he would always give Andrew his space.

As soon as Neil arrived at his desk, he started going through the pile of cases over his desk, perilously balanced like the Tower of Pisa. He started reading the case files he had to choose from, getting ready for a mostly boring job. It was long and tiring work. Neil was making sure he knew exactly what each one of the cases was about and what could he do with it, before he rejected it or not. Without having a specific type in mind, it was the best way for Neil to start choosing, since he wanted to keep himself away from economic cases like the ones from his internship. And to help himself Neil actually made three piles of files: no, yes, maybe. And he was still unsure if it was the best way to continue when he found himself reading a file with a familiar name on it.

“Moriyama…” he read softly, the familiar name rising his fine hairs.

For a moment, he stood frozen, his eyes glued to the black letters, hoping they could, somehow change. But they didn’t, so Neil perused over the file, reading about a famous CEO, Riko Moriyama, accused of psychological and physical violence against one of his employees. Apparently, Jean Moreau, working for the Moriyama family for the last few years, found himself in a hard place when he accused his boss of the awful crimes he had been suffering throughout the years. Neil read on, understanding that the man only came forward when one of his friends, Jeremy Knox, suffered a beating, according to Moreau, while trying to protect him. The information was all very superficial, but still, the names stuck to Neil's mind.

Neil bit on his lower lip, fearing his ragged breath could bring his coworkers down on him, curious about his overrating reaction. He knew that name, he had known that family since he could remember his own life. Nathan Wesninski and the Moriyama family had business together, and Neil could still remember the face of the boy, older than him, sneering down at Nathaniel’s toys and crushing his favorite toy car. So, Riko Moriyama was a psycho as a child and growing up didn’t do him any good, Neil thought to himself, while closing the file. He couldn’t choose that case, it would come too close to a past he was trying to erase from existence. A past that could put not only him, but Andrew as well, in danger. However, the names of those two men kept echoing in his mind. Jean Moreau, Jeremy Knox… They were victims, weren’t they? And who was protecting them? Not the authorities, if the case was still in such a disarray. 

Neil could still remember the note Nathaniel had received while he was under observation at the hospital, after the FBI found him beaten at his father's hands, and next to his mother's corpse. To this day he still had no idea how his uncle was able of sending it, but truth be told, the message was clear enough to understand. In a code only Stuart and Mary Hatford knew, after inventing it as teenagers, and that later she taught Nathaniel, the words “Don’t speak about M.” were clear enough to the boy. The only M that could create such a need of sending a coded note was the powerful family that Nathaniel had learned to fear. Not knowing why his uncle would tell him, but deciding to follow the instructions for his own good, the boy kept quiet for years on end about it. Only Andrew knew part of it, but even that was as little as it could be.

Neil sighed and rose from his desk, in search of a coffee that could dissipate the cloud of confusion drowning his mind. He was gobbling down the blackest coffee he could get, after waiting impatiently by the coffee machine, when he felt movement behind him and turned around to see Wymack walking towards him. He stopped in front of Neil, taking a mug of coffee for himself and groaning at the bitter taste.

“Kiddo, I haven’t been able to ask how everything is going on.” the older man finally said, after searching for the sugar and joining a not-so-healthy amount of it. His shirt sleeves were rolled all the way up and his tie forgotten somewhere, and he looked as far away from a lawyer as anyone could ever be. His tribal flame tattoos didn’t help at all, Neil thought.

“Everything is alright...” Neil replied, looking down at the coffee.

“Look… I know it’s hard trying to overcome what happened in your other office, but it’s different here. They might be fucking nuts, but those kids have each other backs!” Wymack replied, looking at Neil with fiery eyes. “And you are one of us now!”

Wymack’s words made Neil remember the way the man defended him, in the past. But still, David Wymack was from a completely different world from his. Could he really or any of the others, with Andrew and Renee’s exception, really understand what it meant? Neil was still not sure what the deal was with Renee, Andrew would never break someone's trust like that and Neil knew the man actually cared for her, but he knew she was not only a normal lawyer, and that only helped cementing his uncomfortable feeling of letting others know him. Could he really know any of them? Be sure that they wouldn’t turn their backs on him as soon as they knew what kind of fucked up past he had?

“Am I?” Neil asked, and before Wymack could call him, he was walking away, towards the emergency stairs.

Neil knew, through Andrew, that the stairs would take him to the roof, and he had learned a long time ago he thought better in an open space. He had spend too many years hiding in closed places, too afraid of the outside world and its dangers. Always ruled by an iron-clad hand.

While taking the steps, Neil was being enveloped by the memories Wymack just stirred.

 

_He could still remember the day his former boss had called him and talked to him. How they did a background check after rumors rose about his past involvement with criminal activities, how they discovered Neil Josten had only existed for the last few years and how they knew his history was covered by someone. Neil tried to explain, but his boss was having none of it. Their law firm was known for their impeccable ethical work, and the man wouldn’t have someone with a shady past dirtying his business. Neil had walked out of the office, grabbed his things from his desk and called Andrew._

_“Where are you?” Andrew had asked._

_“At my former office…” Neil had answered and without asking anything else, Andrew had told him to wait a few minutes, appearing with his black Maserati in that frame of time._

_“Do I need to kill someone?” Andrew asked as lieu of hello and Neil shook his head._

_“Just take me home." and Andrew did. If Andrew made some tea and Neil’s favorite unsweetened cookies, no one ever mentioned it. But Neil was relieved at having someone like Andrew by his side._

 

When Neil heard the door behind open, he didn’t have to turn around to know it was Andrew. He knew his perfume from miles away. And the scent of cigarettes around him too.

Andrew extended Neil a cigarette already light up and Neil took it without a word.

“I’m thinking of taking the Moriyama case.” Neil suddenly said, holding the cigarette close to his nose and inhaling the scent. He had learned to associate the smell of smoke with Andrew, from the first time they met, and his brain had somehow given him a way to calm himself down from his panic attacks when Andrew was not there to help him.

Neil could feel Andrew’s glare directed at him, a pulse of anger on a blank face.

“Are you this big of a martyr?” Andrew asked and Neil looked at him and shrugged. From Andrew’s expression he was not happy with Neil’s nonchalant answer.

“Who knows? Maybe I just like difficult odds.” Neil replied and he felt Andrew’s fingers on his neck. Neil sighed, when Andrew rubbed his neck just like he knew Neil liked, and almost melted on the spot, feeling the tension thawing from his shoulders.

“Don’t go and do stupid things. That bastard is insane. Just ask Kevin.” Andrew stated, squeezing the back of Neil’s neck softly one last time, before turning around and leaving him to his thoughts.

 

* * *

 

 

“That case?” Dan asked, her expression shocked at Neil’s words. “That’s the case no one wants!”

“Well, that just shows the size of your spine.” Neil replied, harshly, and Dan levered him with a dark look.

“Look, rookie, you have to be careful with what you say. And I’m not talking about the way you showed your bravado just now, which was stupid, by the way, since we are on the same side. No, what I’m talking about is how careful you have to be with those kind of guys, they destroy everything in their way. How do you think Kevin ended up working at his father’s law firm? Did you know he was known as the most brilliant lawyer to appear in years? That law firms were fighting over him? Well, he choose to be Riko’s lawyer, since they were childhood friends and his uncle was actually Kevin's godfather, and look where he ended up anyway after trying to not rely on Wymack. They destroy lives, Neil! When Kevin finds out…” Dan was saying when a sudden voice interrupted their conversation.

“What will I find out?” Kevin asked. Without any of them noticing, Kevin had eavesdropped part of their conversation and was now walking towards them.

Neil looked at Dan and then at Kevin.

“I choose my first case. I’m going to accept Jean Moreau’s case.” Neil replied and it was like Kevin just deflated. A haunted look appeared on his eyes and his skin turned ashen.

“You can’t!” Kevin almost shouted, gaining everyone’s attention. “You can’t do it! You will get destroyed and us as well for helping you!”

“I’m sorry if I didn’t lost my spine at some prick’s feet!” Neil replied. “Jean Moreau and Jeremy Knox deserve to be defended! They didn’t do anything wrong! They are victims!” Neil was talking loud now as well, and Kevin was pointing at him while fuming.

“You have no idea how that family works! They will walk all over you like bulldozers! You will be massacred! And Jean will suffer even more!” Kevin snapped and Neil realized something.

“You know him! You worked with him! He was your friend, wasn’t he? Then why did you leave knowing what Moreau was suffering?” Neil replied with a cold voice and Kevin recoiled and then snapped his hand in front of Neil’s eyes.

His fingers were shacking badly.

“Riko wrecked my nervous system when I tried to face him! He drugged me with something, something I still don’t know what it was, before the biggest case of my life! And I completely destroyed every chance I had of being a good lawyer! Everyone thought I was a drunkard, going to work still reeking of alcohol! I became the laughingstock of everyone that used to kiss my ass! I can’t still sleep at night! And it’s been years! Whatever he gave me had lasting effects!” Kevin spat and Neil saw for the first time what Kevin tried to hide from everyone else for so long. He was a wreck of a human being, using his job and his wife as crutches, but never living to his full effect. Just going with the motions.

“Then you should understand better than anyone…” Neil replied, before turning his back on Kevin. Seeing Kevin desperate like that just made Neil more motivated to destroy Riko Moriyama, and settling that, this was probably going to be the biggest mistake of his life.

 

* * *

 

 

“I heard your little fight with Kevin, today.” Andrew suddenly said, between his small bites of kebab.

Neil looked up from his own plate and shrugged at Andrew.

“Someone should teach him some spine.” Neil replied, letting his feet move under Andrew’s legs, to feel more comfortable. Andrew moved, trying to accommodate Neil, until he smiled at the blonde signaling he was okay.

They were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, with take-away on their laps and the TV on a low volume, and by Andrew’s expression he was not happy with Neil’s answer.

“You know what you are getting into, right?” Andrew asked and Neil sighed, remembering their rooftop encounter.

“The Moriyama family had business with the Butcher of Baltimore.” Neil announced and he would swear he saw a flash of fury on Andrew’s eyes at the mention of that man.

Andrew was quiet for a long time, probably weighting that little bit of old information Neil just dropped on him.

“Is this vengeance, then?” Andrew asked and Neil knew Andrew’s opinion about revenge. It was useless and idiotic, too little and too late. There was no gain to have, besides a false sense of victory after the other side had actually won over you.

“No, I want to protect someone from being completely destroyed by those that think they are more powerful.” Neil replied, putting his take-way on the floor, and shooing King and Sir away from the rest of it.

Andrew copied his movements. He stared at Neil until he saw the auburn-haired man smile.

“Staring…” Neil said and Andrew scoffed at him.

“I didn’t know I was living with a fucking guardian angel.” Andrew replied, before turning around to face the TV. “Just remember to duck when they come for you.”

Contrary to his dismissing words, Neil could see the tension in Andrew’s posture. He knew this trial would bring hard decisions into their lives, he was not that naïve, but if Andrew was beside him, Neil was sure he could get through all the stuff they could throw at him.

Neil moved his hand with slowness and noise enough for Andrew to back away, but he didn’t, opening his hand instead, to receive Neil’s fingers and interlock them with his.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first night out of the Foxes and a very important question is made...

Neil started working on the case the next day, contacting Jean Moreau to tell him he had read his file and was ready to represent him. At first, Moreau thought it was a joke and then that he was someone working under Riko. It took Neil more than thirty minutes for Moreau to believe him, but finally they agreed on meeting the next Monday to discuss the case. The rest of the day, Neil spent his time rereading the file, taking notes of every witness he would have to meet, every question he wanted Moreau to clarify and making sure he wrote down every angle the other side could attack them on. He had to meet with Jeremy Knox, especially, since he was the kick start of all this and clarify his relationship with Jean Moreau. By the way Jean talked about him, Neil was sure he was more than a friend.

And Neil would have continued with his work, through the night, if Nicky suddenly didn’t drop his heavy bag on his desk, making Neil jump and reach for a gun he hadn’t carried with him for many years.

“Drinks on me, rookie!” Nicky said when Neil looked up at him with confused eyes. “You promised you would come with us for drinks.” Nicky recalled and Neil froze.

“I don’t drink!” was Neil’s immediate response. When Nicky had invited him initially, Neil thought he was just being polite, but apparently he meant it and thought Neil meant it too.

“Just a beer, my friend!” Matt said from his desk and that’s when Neil realized this was a team thing. He could see everyone arranging their things, with the exception of Kevin that was quickly typing, trying to finish a last statement. Seth was already waiting by the elevators and Allison and Renee were discussing where to go. Seeing Aaron joining the rest of the group, Neil felt the need to ask a very obvious question.

“What about Andrew?”

Everyone looked at Neil, surprised, like they had never thought about that.

“He doesn’t want to come!” Aaron answered, impatiently.

“Have you ever asked him?” but Neil already knew the answer. He also knew Andrew had never gone out with their colleagues and realizing just how far away he was from everyone else felt like lead was just dropped on his stomach. He knew Andrew would scoff at him for his thoughts, but worrying about Andrew was something Neil had done for the last six years, gladly.

When Nicky was opening his mouth to answer, Neil heard Andrew’s door open, and turning around, before anyone realized what he was doing, Neil spoke.

“Do you want to go out with us?”

It was possible to hear a pin drop in that instant. Not even Allison or Seth found something in them to say, while Aaron and Nicky’s eyes flew to their brother and cousin with batted breaths.

Andrew looked around, at all of them, stopping a little longer on Renee’s excited expression and then barely meeting his brother’s eyes. When he finally looked at Neil, he just said “I’m not driving anyone home.”

And just like that he started walking towards the elevator to wait beside a shocked Allison. If Neil didn’t know already, he would bet Andrew was smirking on the inside at all the ruckus he just caused.

 

* * *

 

 

When Neil saw the place that Nicky had chosen, he regretted immediately accepting the invitation. Eden’s Twilight was familiar to him, from all the times Andrew and him had come to the bar, so familiar that he feared meeting someone that knew them. He just hoped Roland wasn’t working tonight. The barman was an old friend of them, always serving them drinks on the house with a mischievous smile that at first made Neil uncomfortable, and after some time, welcomed.

But alas, it was not Neil’s lucky night.

“Roland! My friend! I came bearing people to spend money!” Nicky said as lieu of hello and Roland, clearly used to his antics merely smiled at him.

Overlooking the rest of the crew, as soon as his eyes fell on Neil and Andrew, his lips opened in a big smile.

“Neil, it’s so good to see you!” Roland exclaimed, and Nicky looked surprised at him.

“You know Neil?” he asked and Roland looked back at the auburn haired man. If looks could kill, Roland would be dead by now.

Understanding the subtle glare, Roland merely answered “I met Neil last week when he kind of lost himself while going home.”

“You live close, Neil?” Matt asked and Neil nodded.

“Just imagine if you and Andrew were neighbors… he lives close by too…” Nicky laughed and Roland echoed him with his chuckle.

What Roland couldn’t say was how he had met Neil more than three years ago and had heard Andrew talk about him for much longer than that. When Andrew had started working in a special case, and stopped hanging out with Roland behind closed doors, Roland knew something was amiss. Andrew no longer sought him for a quick blow job, preferring to talk about this menace he had met and that he was ready to kill. It took Roland a long time to know the name of the man, Neil Josten, and that he was going away for an indeterminate time. At that, Roland thought Andrew’s life was going to go back to normal, he couldn’t imagine Andrew Minyard pinning after a man thousands of miles away. But everyone made mistakes in their lives, and believing Andrew could forget Neil was one Roland swore to never do a second time. Especially after he tried to kiss Andrew and the blonde dismissed him with only a glare. And for three years, Roland saw Andrew, sitting at his bar, with his phone in hand or a piece of paper, and actually looking fondly at whatever was written in there. For those three years,Roland thought sooner or later Andrew would realize his mistake and try to get together with him like in the past. Not that Roland had more than friendship for Andrew, but damn, the man had a magic mouth and Roland would pity the monopolization of it for just one person.

And then, Andrew had sent him a message with only five words: **He knocked on my door**.

_And that was the day Roland realized just how obtuse he had been for the last three years. The first time Roland saw Neil and Andrew together he actually whistled at Neil’s hotness and saw Andrew’s eyes squint with barely suppressed protectiveness. Roland had shrugged his shoulders and smiled at them._

_“Neil, this man has been pinning for you for the last three years! The stories I could tell you…” and for the first time, Roland saw someone smile openly at Andrew, not threateningly or coldly,but with such fondness Roland felt warm just from watching them._

Since then, Roland had been a constant presence in their lives. He knew Nicky and Aaron from the time they worked in his bar, saving money for college,and he also knew they had no idea about Andrew’s domestic life, as Roland liked to call it. Now, seeing all of them together made him immediately jump to the conclusion that all of them were now into the knowledge. Big mistake, apparently…

Moving forward quickly and choosing a table, Neil tried diffusing the tension Roland had created, and as soon as drinks were being chosen everyone forgot about the awkward beginning of their night. Nicky was asking everyone about their choices and when he reached Neil, before the younger man could answer, Andrew replied.

“Neil doesn’t drink.”

“How do you know, Andrew?” Nicky asked, observing his cousin with curiosity.

“I heard him telling you that this afternoon. You would know it too, if you paid attention for once.” Andrew grumbled, and under the table, Neil squeezed his leg.

“Andrew! Do you spy on us?” Nicky was shocked, making Matt and Renee chuckle softly.

“How do you think I always know when you steal my hot chocolate from the kitchenette?”

Nicky’s face was so red, Neil had to chuckle at his reaction, gaining surprised looks from his colleagues, that he couldn’t comprehend until Allison commented.

“It’s good to know you are capable of normal human emotions.” the way she said it made Neil realize it was a compliment and not a critic.

“Now, the most important question that no one asked yet!” Nicky announced after two rounds of drinks. “Neil, which is the team you play for?”

Seth groaned and Allison hit his arm. With the exception of Kevin that was currently aligning his drinks by color and Aaron that was texting his wife, everyone looked at Neil expectantly. If he didn’t know the betting story of that crowd, he would feel uncomfortable, but Andrew had warned him right from the start that the Foxes liked to bet on everything. Apparently, their newest one was about Neil’s sexuality.

“I don’t play for either team, but I’m in a very happy and long relationship and I would appreciate it if you could respect my privacy.” Neil replied and Nicky gaped at him.

“Are you married, Neil?” Nicky asked, clearly ignoring what Neil just asked of them.

“Yes, I am.” Was his only answer and, behind the group, they heard Roland letting a bunch of glasses fall to the ground, creating a ruckus of epic proportions. It helped saving Andrew from being noticed by the rest of them when he turned to Neil and glared at him.

“I hope you are very happy together.” Renee said, and there was a special mischievous glint in her eyes.

“We are, thank you, Renee.” Neil couldn’t say he trusted Renee, especially when it appeared she knew much more than she was letting on, but she actually sounded truthful and Neil couldn’t begrudge anyone that wished happiness on him and Andrew.

Meanwhile, Andrew was trying to keep his expression in check. He was always good at it, but when Neil dropped those kind of bombs, he actually found himself lost for once.

Nicky was still trying to pry something out of Neil, when the auburn-haired man rose from the table, excusing himself with a cigarette to leave them for a few moments. Truth be told, Neil answered Nicky on a whim and he was now regretting saying anything if the man was going to keep nagging at him. He wondered if Andrew’s expression meant he didn’t agree with Neil’s answer, and if so, what would be the best word for what they had.

A few seconds later, Neil felt the door opening behind him and he didn’t have to turn around to recognize Andrew’s footsteps. The man walked slowly, until he stopped next to Neil.

“Yes or no?” Andrew asked and Neil looked at him, not understanding what he was asking about. “Your hand.” Andrew clarified and Neil gave him his left one, while the other hold his cigarette. “Funny…” Andrew commented. “I don’t see a ring on it.”

Neil understood what he meant and sighed.

“I don’t regret saying it. We might not have an official paper or each-other’s last names, but I feel married to you.” Neil answered and Andrew squeezed his hand.

“Papers can be burned and names can be changed. You, better than anyone, should know that.” Andrew replied, still holding Neil’s hand.

“Yes, and that’s why we don’t need them to feel committed to each other… Don’t tell me you don’t want a husband like me, Andrew Minyard?” Neil joked and Andrew rolled his eyes at him.

“120%” was Andrew’s only answer.

“I don’t know, but I think you math is slightly wrong. Last time I was at 150%...” Neil recalled their old game of percentages of hate and wish to kill each other. It sounded like another universe, a time where they didn’t like each other, didn’t want to die for each other, didn’t want to wake up every morning to each other’s face.

“Exactly, Josten.” Andrew replied, before turning around and reentering the bar.

Neil stood there, shaken to the core, realizing the implications of Andrew’s words. He, that always cared about his hate for Neil, even if in a figurative way, just showed Neil that somehow, the idea of being married to him wasn’t that bad and actually deserved a decrease in percentage. Neil waited for a few more minutes, trying to control the big smile that took control over his face.

When he reentered the bar, the Foxes were already over the top, with Nicky singing about lost boys, Matt laughing loudly at something Renee said that apparently wasn’t funny at all, Aaron and Kevin talking lowly with Andrew, that kept pushing them away, complaining about their breath, while Dan, Allison and Seth were busy talking about the new house the couple wanted to buy, and that Dan and Renee should help decorate the space. Neil sat next to the group, feeling, at the same time, like a stranger and a member of it. He felt like he was walking on a rope, hoping for his balance to keep up, afraid of falling from it, afraid of the consequences of just letting go. He was not known for trusting people blindly, but this group of lawyers made him feel welcome into their midst. He just didn’t know if he could let himself do a trust fall.

Andrew caught his eyes and noticing the absent look in it, rose from his chair.

“I’m leaving.” He said, and without waiting for any kind of response, Andrew left the bar, while Nicky whined behind him about cold wars and cold hearts.

Neil waited for a few seconds, while Nicky rhapsodized about the beauty of family and how he wished Andrew could forgive him and Aaron and become a family again. Neil wasn’t sure what kind of family they were, before Aaron left for Katelyn, but something told him it wasn’t your usual American family portrayed in TV shows and books all around the world. Giving a quick excuse about needing to work on his case during the weekend, Neil left the group drinking and almost ran after Andrew.

“If you took one more minute I would have left without you.” Andrew said, when Neil opened his door and entered the warm car. Neil merely nodded, rubbing his hands, trying to warm them. The night had turned out especially cold and only when Andrew took Neil’s hand in his, did he feel some kind of warm returning to his fingers. He noticed, with a grin, the way Andrew’s nose was red and his cheeks pink, from the cold, and he knew the hand holding was for both of them.

* * *

 

The weekend passed in a blur of pages and statements, with Neil calling some contacts in the police force to have access to both Jean Moreau and Jeremy Knox’s statements, Riko Moryiama’s were harder to get, since the man was protected by his own men within the force. Andrew would sometimes bring Neil a cup of tea, while he slurped on his hot chocolate, sending him reproving looks. Neil knew Andrew believed that case to be a time bomb that would explode on Neil’s hands, but now was too late, and he had to see it through.

When Monday morning arrived, Neil woke up to Andrew’s staring. It was an unfamiliar sight, usually Neil was awake sooner, ready for his morning run, but last night he had been working until late hours and overslept his usual waking time.

“Morning…” Neil rasped, his voice still mellow with sleep and Andrew’s eyes shone with a peculiar glint. Neil stretched slowly, noticing Andrew’s eyes following his gestures with languid appreciation.

Before Neil could ask him something, Andrew was kneeling on the bed, completely dressed and hovering over Neil’s body. Neil could feel the warm of Andrew’s body slipping into his and other parts of him hardening at the close contact.

“Yes.” Neil said when he saw Andrew opening his mouth to ask him. “Five minutes.” Neil moaned when Andrew moved against his body.

They clearly took much more than just five minutes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil meets Jean for the first time, and hears his chilling tale.

Neil and Andrew were the first ones to arrive, since for once, Neil let Andrew drive him instead of walking or taking the subway. He was late, by his schedule, but apparently the weekend was still clutching the rest of the Foxes into its claws.

When the rest of the team started trickling out of the elevators, Andrew was already inside his office, and Neil was reading the information the police sent him about the case. He knew that not all the pictures taken were on the email he got, but what he saw made him remember, too painfully, about a crazy father and his savage employees. He was so immersed into that, that he almost punched Matt when he clapped him on the back. Matt moved away, with his hands in the air and Neil tried to apologize quickly, before anyone else noticed his reaction.

However, the group was too close and they saw the way Neil tried to evade their eyes. Kevin stared at him, and then noticing the pictures on his computer, exploded.

“You are really going to go against him?” Kevin asked and Neil nodded. “So you better improve and fast, because the way you are now, you will be destroyed. And everyone you love as well.” Kevin stated and Neil actually smirked at him.

“I’m not afraid of fighting, and I won’t let someone like this roam free to keep being a psycho to anyone that tries to defy him! Tell me that you won’t love to see him crushed after what he did to you? Do you see these pictures? I bet they are not the worst that happened to Jean!” Neil exclaimed and he felt Renee moving closer to him.

“We are going to help you, Neil.” She said. “No one deserves to suffer like that.” Neil turned to face her and noticed her hard stare at the computer.

Neil saw the rest of them nod, even Seth, and Neil wondered what could have swayed the usually cold man.

“I don’t like people that have everything without working a day of their lives, rich little bastard!” Neil should have guessed Seth had a distorted revenge-y vision about it all. Well, he wouldn’t refuse his help either way.

For a moment, everyone stood around, unsure of what to do next, but when Kevin's voice barked at them to start being useful, they grumbled their way to their desks, cursing Kevin and his obsessive nature.

After everyone settled down, Neil noticed Renee moving to their kitchenette and decided to follow her. He needed to know what he could count on, and Andrew had been eerily quiet about Renee every time Neil asked him about her.

She had her back to him, but Neil knew no matter how quiet he tried to be, she would know he was there

“Hey, Neil.” Renee said, without turning around, and letting Neil know he was right. She was filling an extra cup for Neil, had actually chosen his favorite blend, and that told him more about her observation skills than any words could, especially when he barely took his breaks with the rest of the team.

“Renee.” Neil nodded, and she smiled at him.

“I know what you are going to ask.” Renee replied softly, and for a moment Neil wondered if she was really ready for what was going through his mind.

“Do you? So, you know I’m going to ask how many times you were beaten like Jean and how many men you took revenge on?” Neil questioned, and Renee actually was surprised at his bold words. Andrew was rubbing off on him, Neil though.

“Andrew is rubbing off on you.” Renee whispered, with a secret smile, and Neil’s eyes widened.

“What?” he hoped his voice passed as confused and not socked, but by her mischievous expression he failed completely.

“Nothing, nothing." she put her index in front of her lips, while smiling." Now, answering your questions.”

Apparently, Renee knew about them or at least had an inkling. Neil wondered what gave them away, but since she was going to give him answers, he decided to stay quiet for now.

“I was a member of a gang, Neil, a very bad, violent one. One that didn’t take prisoners, one that didn’t take well to disobedience or any kind of morals, beside self preservation. I killed, Neil, yes, and I regret it. I did it to survive, but I know nothing can justify taking someone’s life. But I also know that I would be able to do it again, to protect those I care about. I was really good with knives, you know? They were my trademark, if you want to use some kind of definition for them. But when I was saved by my adoptive mother, and she showed me another way, I gave up on them. But just like you felt something wrong about me, oh, don't look like that, Neil, I know I make you uncomfortable." she actually smiled at Neil's uncomfortable expression.

"Andrew did as well when we met. Do you know that he entered my dorm room and stole my knives? Ironic, right? He wanted me to own my past and not hide from it... Well, I no longer have them, I ended up giving them to Andrew, still during our college years, but I still train to be able to defend, not attack, and thanks to Andrew I don't try to hide my past anymore, I own my mistakes and learn from them. I know you don’t trust me, Neil, and I have an idea why, but I’m really trying to do good. I’m a bad person trying to be a good person, and I hope you can see that.” Renee waited patiently until Neil nodded his head. Only then did she walk way from him.

 _So, Andrew’s knives were Renee’s_...

Neil had seen those knives many times through the years. Andrew always had one with him somewhere he could reach quickly, but the rest were safely hidden in their house, in strategically planned places.

Andrew had never told him about Renee giving him her knives, probably knowing that spreading that information would lead into awkward questions about her past. Neil knew they had been on the same college, Renee a few years above him, and that they trained together regularly, but besides that, Neil had been ignorant about her secrets. Andrew respected other people’s privacy until they said otherwise, and it didn’t surprise Neil at all, the little he knew about Renee. He was still not totally comfortable with her, but now, it felt easier to understand that dark shadow surrounding her. Making sure to try and talk more with her, Neil turned to his desk.

He didn’t realize he actually made a mental check to get together with Renee and talk some more, to understand her a bit more, until he sat on his chair. He froze for a second, noticing how the rambunctious environment around him no longer irritated him. It felt normal, now. And it scared him shitless.

 

* * *

 

 

When Neil arrived at the meeting place he had agreed on with Jean Moreau, the Frenchman was already sitting there, with a coffee cup in front of him. Neil sat in front of him, asked for a coffee as well, and waited for the waitress to bring his beverage. Only after that, did Neil and Jean start talking.

“I need you to tell me everything that happened, right from the first punch or slap or whatever, until Jeremy Knox found himself being the punching bag.” Neil said, without sugar coating anything. He was there to know what happened, and to win the war, not for niceties. Andrew would be proud. Andrew wouldn’t be proud, however, of Neil using French and so, letting one of his skills be known. It was another thing from his runaway days with his mother that he now used for a greater good.

If Jean was surprised at Neil’s knowledge of the language he didn’t say anything, choosing instead to look down at his half drank coffee, intertwining his hands in a nervous gesture, over and over, until he sighed, and finally looked up. His eyes were dark, and not only because of their color: there was something murky swimming behind them and Neil felt a pang at noticing they looked like his eyes before Andrew and Wymack and Abby appeared in his life, while he was on the run, always afraid of something he couldn’t name, only fear.

“I’ve been working for the Moriyamas for a long time.” Jean said, using French as well. “Since I was a kid, actually. My parents owed them money, so they sold me to be their whatever-they-wanted. I was too young to understand, the masters just kept saying that they would hurt my parents if I told anyone what happened. It was only later that I found out those parents, that I was trying to save, were the ones to give me away.” Jean shivered at the words.

“Riko was pleased at having a new toy to play. Even as a child, his psychopathic tendencies were clear for anyone to see, and so, he needed someone to try on, someone that wouldn’t cry for help, that could be brainwashed into doing their bidding.”

Jean’s voice was quieter now, making Neil move forward, so he could hear him.

“It went on for years… At last, I turned into some kind of lackey of Riko, I would do everything he asked of me. As a CEO, he can’t be publicly associated with some kind of people, and that is exactly the kind of people he likes to associate with behind closed doors. Not only prostitutes, but people that did drug deals, and also the ones that have some perverse tastes concerning their physical pleasure.”

Jean’s speech was becoming slower, like it was painful for him to actually say those words. Neil kept silent, afraid he would disturb the confessional state of mind Jean was on.

“He drugged me and made me do some things I’m not proud of, humiliating things. He recorded them and he threatened me that he would use them if I ever tried to escape.”

Jean was silent for a long time, his eyes lost in all the dark memories of his life. Neil wondered if being in a cafe was really the best option for that kind of talk, but maybe because it was empty beside the employees and them, and was at the same time a public place it somehow grounded Jean into the now, and not the past. And then his eyes changed, they took on a shine that Neil knew all too well.

“And then, Jeremy appeared.” Jean’s expression cleared and it was like the sun was rising. “He is a teacher and we met during my favorite writer’s meet and greet in a library near my place. We became close and one day he decided to surprise me at the office.  He had no idea what was happening in there, he thought all the bruises were from hockey, and I didn’t want him to find out like that."

Jean sighed and closed his eyes.

"The security guy was one of my hockey mates and he knew Jeremy, but he had no idea what Jeremy would find when he let him go up to the office. Riko never did those kind of things in the office, he always made sure we would be away from anyone else, but his shareholders were trying to fight him on one of his decisions and his stock markets dropped dangerously that day, and so he was furious with everyone else, and I was the one that always paid the price when he was furious. Riko was watching me being beaten up by two of his friends, when Jeremy heard the noise and forced open Riko’s office door.

My desk is outside and he was waiting for me when he heard me grunt in pain, so he entered, and without thinking twice put himself between them and me. They beat him as well, they were so far gone in their craziness they didn’t stop to think they shouldn’t be hitting someone that didn’t work for Riko. They took us out, after Riko stopped them, and dropped us at Jeremy’s place. Jeremy was really shaken, he had never gone through something like that. I could see in his eyes that something in him broke. And then I told him the truth and he cried… he cried because of me! And I couldn’t stand the man I loved suffering for my cowardice, so I decided to step up and make an official complaint. I didn’t go to the office again, I’ve been living in fear since then. But to keep myself and Jeremy safe I made a public announcement of the complaint. This way, if something happens to me, everyone will suspect Riko. But I can’t live like this forever, I need to have my life back, to see Jeremy stop looking over his shoulder at every sudden movement on the street. I need to know Riko gets the punishment he deserves.” Jean finally quieted down, and put his head on his hands, sobbing quietly.

Neil was unsure of what to say or do in that case, emotional support was never one of his strong suits, he was always a man of action and reaction, not pats on the back and soothing words.

“Jean, I understand more than you think about that kind of life, of always living in fear, of not having something worth fighting for. And so, I know how important it is when you find that person that makes everything seem brighter. And if someone tried to hurt that person, I would personally want to kill them. Since I can’t give 100% surety that we can kill Riko and get away with it, the very best next thing would be to totally crush him in a courtroom. I will need any kind of proof you might have of your old injuries, any recorded conversation, videos, files, emails, everything you can think about. And I will need to talk with Jeremy as well. But I promise you, Jean, I will fight until the end!” Neil promised and Jean chuckled darkly.

“I wasn’t expecting this from someone that works with Kevin Day.” Jean said and Neil realized the Frenchman had done his inquiries on him as well. Good. He would hate to defend a sitting duck.

“Kevin and Riko’s history is something I have no wish on knowing more than necessary, unless you think it can help winning the case.” Neil suggested and Jean shrugged his shoulders.

“Not really, I don’t want to own Kevin Day anything. He knew what the fuck was going on and did nothing.” Jean was talking angrily, angrier than when he spoke about Riko and Neil realized he felt betrayed. At some point, Jean had probably thought they would be sacrificed together or run away together.

“Kevin is suffering too.” Neil said and Jean smiled ironically at him.

“I thought you didn’t care about his business.”

“And I don’t, I’m merely stating a fact. Now that that is out of the way, I need witnesses' names, anyone that suffered from Riko's abuse, someone that could help us delineate the figure of the psychopath that he is.” Neil requested and Jean started listing a few names, people that still worked on the company and some former employees, he also gave Neil Jeremy’s contact, so they could talk and Neil felt like he had everything he needed, he rose from the table, shook Jean’s hand (even if the man was slightly anxious about touching him) and left the cafe.

While he walked to the office, Neil couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. He didn’t know if it was brought on by Jean’s chilling tale or if he was really being followed. He wondered if Riko already knew of Jean’s new lawyer.

 _Yup, he was definitely being followed._ Neil could see the same guy following him for more than fifteen minutes, even when he suddenly changed routes. Since Neil didn’t want to rise any suspicion, he merely kept walking like he had no idea what was going on, while actually texting Andrew so he would be careful going home.

When Neil’s phone rang and Andrew’s name appeared, he answered it quickly.

“Are you safe?” were Andrew’s first words and Neil hummed.

“I think he is just trying to get a read on me, he is not very good at following people, so I bet, for now, Riko has no idea I’m a professional at noticing this kind of stuff.” Neil replied, quickly crossing the side walk. He could already see their building. He knew Andrew would be home already, since he hated to stay late at the office and his current cases were actually very easy wins. “I’m not going to enter our building, I will try to keep our home safe for now.” And so, Neil turned left instead of walking straight ahead.

In five minutes, Neil was able of shaking off his shadow, and entering through their fire escape, he almost killed Andrew from a heart attack.

“Next time I will push you!” Andrew threatened, a knife in hand, while Neil jumped into the house. From his expression he probably thought Neil was a burglar or someone sent by Riko that actually knew their address.

Neil dusted off his slacks, making sure his butt was in Andrew’s direct line of vision and bent down to pet Sir and King, that were meowing around his calves.

“Are you sure you want to keep doing this? It’s been one day and they already have someone on you.” Andrew said and Neil saw him putting down the knife on their coffee table.

“I just spoke to Jean Moreau.” Neil started and Andrew scoffed.

“I recognize that expression. Your martyr complex is showing, Neil. You are going to get hurt trying to save a stranger.” Andrew said and Neil decided to keep quiet about one of the reasons that talking with Jean cemented his decision.

Listening to the way Jean spoke, blank, detached, cold, made Neil remember Andrew and the nights he woke from a nightmare, and how, later, he would tell Neil what was in the base of it. Now, years later, Neil was sure he still didn’t know all that Andrew went through, and that always brought a cold shiver down his spine. He couldn’t get to the people that hurt Andrew, Andrew wouldn’t even let him approach them, but Neil could get one son of a bitch behind bars with this case and he would do it for all the Andrews in the world. Now, if Neil told Andrew any of this he would only get Andrew’s impatience and worry. So, he stayed quiet for once.

“So, I spoke a bit with Renee today.” Neil changed the course of the conversation and Andrew rolled his eyes at his clear tactic.

“She told me.” Andrew replied. “So, since you shared best friends bracelets, are you no longer afraid of her?”

“I was never afraid of her!” Neil replied. “Merely apprehensive.”

“Well, that woman could have you for breakfast and still look like a goddamn school teacher.” Andrew said, while taking out a pot to start their dinner.

“Maybe I should start training as well, I can only run for so long.” Neil relied, while getting the vegetables ready for their salad.

Andrew’s only answer was a tensing of his shoulders. He was probably imagining a future when Neil would have a reason to start running again.

 

* * *

 

 

Later, when they were both in bed, with Neil still awake after Andrew surrendered to sleep, he wondered if his actions could put Andrew in danger, like Kevin had said.

_No one knew about them, but still, what if someone found out and tried to use Andrew as leverage?_

_What if he was putting Andrew’s life in danger?_

From what Jean told him, Riko was a perfect example of his crazy family. Neil could still remember a small boy named Nathaniel trembling, while his father butchered a man in front of his eyes, while beside him, Riko looked up with something akin to excitement. But then the way Jean talked about Jeremy slipped into his mind and Andrew was right there in front of him, and it could be Neil talking about Andrew in that same way...

“Stop staring.” Andrew suddenly said and Neil jumped a little.

“I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were. And you were also worrying. I could hear you thinking.” Andrew’s voice was muffled by the pillow and when he opened his eyes, Neil noticed they were soft with sleep. “Come here.” Were Andrew’s only words, but Neil moved, without thinking twice, and turning his back on Andrew, let the shorter man hold him against his body. It was not a common sleeping position, but feeling Andrew’s body next to his always calmed Neil down. And Andrew knew it.

“Sleep, or you are going to be even uglier in the morning.” Andrew whispered against Neil’s neck.

Finally, Neil felt his eyelids drop and before he could feel Andrew’s lips kissing the back of his neck, he was already asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil talks back to Riko for the first time, and the consequences might not be the best...

“Are you okay?” Dan asked, passing by Neil’s desk, noticing his pale face and the dark shadows under his eyes.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Neil replied, without even looking at Dan, his eyes fixed on the files in front of him.

With all his work and Andrew’s most recent bad day, things had taken a toll on him.

Neil could still clearly remember the way he had found Andrew, crouching in their bathroom floor, after waking up from a nightmare, something that he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Neil feared those were triggered by the stress Andrew was under because of Neil's take on the Moreau case, and for a moment felt tempted into asking about it. But knowing Andrew, and his protective streak, he would probably not answer him, since Andrew would never lie to him and give him a false answer just to calm his guilty conscience. 

Neil knew not to touch Andrew when he was feeling like that, like a wind could easily blow him away and all his fragile pieces, but it broke his heart knowing there was nothing he could do, besides being there. Neil had called in sick, not worrying a bit about what the others would say, and worked at home. He coaxed Andrew into going to the couch and from time to time would get him hot chocolate or his favorite blend of tea with six spoons of sugar. By the end of the afternoon he could see Andrew coming back to him from whatever hell he had been into. Using that window of opportunity, Neil started discussing their plans for their next trip together, suggesting a cruise, trying to get a reaction out of Andrew.

“With your luck, it would go all Titanic on us.” Andrew muttered, and Neil smiled for the first time that day. Andrew wasn’t completely alright, yet, but he was getting there.

After that, Neil decided to work even harder to fasten the case as much as he could. The dark cloud hanging over their heads was a storm ready to strike on them, with rain, thunder and lightning. Neil only hoped the lightning didn't strike anyone down.

And with everything happening, it had already been a week since he talked with Jean. In the meantime, Neil had spoken with Jeremy Knox, that looked more like a primary school teacher than any primary school teacher Neil had ever met. Not that he had met many, but imagining Knox with his sunny personality teaching in a high school made him smile a bit, picturing the grumpy faces of all those teenagers faced with his big smile every day.

But Jeremy Knox’s happy smile immediately disappeared when they started talking about the reason behind their meeting. Jeremy was still trying to process everything that Jean went through, and gave a very complete and thorough description of how everything went on that fatidic day. He had assured Neil that outside his house there was a security camera that could attest to the condition he and Jean had arrived home, besides the identity of those two that dropped them off. Neil made sure to join that information to the list of important proof they had and hoped the cameras had a long recording memory or that somehow the images were saved into some device.

“I won’t let Jean live like that ever again, but I need your promise that we can win this thing, that Jean no longer has to live in fear of being tortured or worst!” Jeremy has said, his voice trembling with barely suppressed anger, and it was a sight to see the blonde, bright eyed man, look so out of control. His fists were ghost white, but Neil knew he had no chance against the powerhouse that was the Moriyamas, he would die trying to protect Jean if Neil lost that case and that was something he couldn’t live with.

“You don’t look fine.” Dan said, and sat over Neil’s desk, reading the files around her. “Look, if you need help you can just ask. I have some friends in the entertainment business that can help getting some information.” Dan suggested, noticing one page where Neil had written _Riko+prostitutes+physical and sexual abuse ? - > witnesses?_

“You do?” Neil asked and Dan nodded. He immediately searched his desk for the list of known bars Riko went to and that were always incredibly tight lipped and closed against inquiries.

“We like to talk among ourselves.” Dan said and Neil’s eyes widened at her words. “Don’t look like that, newbie, I wasn’t a prostitute, I was a stripper.” And Dan laughed at his reddened cheeks. “But we still like to talk. Maybe my stage sisters know someone that could help us. I will ask them.”

“Tell them to be careful, we don’t know how far reaches Riko’s power.” Neil said and Dan nodded, before walking away with her phone already in hand. Neil smiled a little, feeling a new burst of excitement in his chest.

That was the moment his phone rang under a pile of pages and Neil had to dive among them to rescue the device before it stopped ringing. Looking at the screen, Neil saw the number was unknown and answering it, clicked on the recording device. He wouldn’t leave anything to fate.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Josten.” A silky voice said, with a light accent that Neil recognized as being Asian.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Moriyama.” Neil answered in the same calm tone.

“Good, good, we both know who we are talking to. Well, it reached my ears that you decided to represent a certain former employee of mine.” Riko said, and Neil gritted his teeth.

“Funny, my dictionary must be different from yours, since slave doesn’t appear as a synonym for employee. But rest assured, Riko, I will make my best to help you understand the difference when I see you going to prison.” Neil said and he heard, on the other side, a low growl.

“You think you are so smart, right? Well, let me tell you, stronger man than you tried to face me and they lost.” Riko replied, his voice in control once again.

“If you mean Kevin, we all know how you dealt with him. Friendships can turn sour so quickly, right? Everything it takes is for someone to realize that they actually have ethics.”

“I don’t like that tone of yours, Neil…” Riko said.

“Sorry, I have a bit of an attitude problem. People tell me I’m not easily beaten down, if you know what I mean…” Neil replied and this time he was sure he heard something breaking on the other side. He wondered if it was a glass or a priceless jar.

“We are the biggest company in the country, we have offices all over the world, people beg us for a scrape of our influence. You think you can destroy all that with a pathetic complain from a useless man? He didn’t deserve my time, neither his job.” Riko said. “Just because he can’t live with his own insignificance, I don’t have to be accountable for that.”

“You were the one applauding the beating Jean Moreau and Jeremy Knox took! You have been acting like a psychopath for your entire life! You purchased a man as if he was an object! You had horrifying things done to him!” Neil’s voice was now louder, and everyone around him was observing his gestures.

“You and Jean Moreau are a pitiful pair. You deserve nothing more than scorn, and that shouldn’t be tolerated.”

“Well, let me tell you something. I think you are scared. You are scared that all your power can’t save you this time, you are scared people will finally realize the monster you are and you finally have to pay for all your crimes, because, believe me, Riko, after I win this case, everything about you will come out. People will feel empowered to tell the truth, they will realize you are not some kind of demon, that you are only a simple and pathetic man. And, you will lose everything.” Neil spoke the last four words as slowly as he could and then hung up on him with a shot of adrenaline running through his veins.

“You are insane!” Kevin bellowed from where he had been frozen. “He is going to come after you! You don’t know him like I do!”

“What can he do? Kill someone?” Nicky joked and Kevin’s face turned paler. “C’mon, Kevin, he is a famous CEO, he won’t have Neil killed for this.” Nicky tried to lighten the mood, but the way Kevin’s eyes moved around the room, like he was expecting Riko to appear, similar to a demon summoned from hell, made his words fall flat.

Neil was barely able of keeping himself together when the adrenaline rush disappeared.

  _What had he done? He was insane! He just put his life and Andrew’s in danger!_

Before anyone could say anything, Neil rose from his chair and walked towards the emergency stairs. Only then, did he start running and stopped only when he felt the cold windy air on his face. Sitting against the exit wall, Neil heard the recorded conversation.

_Could he use it somehow? What if it made everything worse?_

Before he could stop himself he sent it to Andrew’s phone and waited. It took only a moment until his phone rang with Andrew’s personalized ringing tone.

“The hot chocolate you bought in that new store was shit.” Andrew said.

“What?”

“The hot chocolate, that thing you drink in winter… It tasted like those school milks. I hated school milks.”

“I never drank school milk.”

“Lucky you.”

“Is this your way of distracting me?”

“Why should I distract you? Did you do something that would need me to distract you?” Andrew asked in his blank tone and Neil actually chuckled lowly.

“I don’t know… Kevin made it sound like I just signed my death sentence.” Neil confessed and he heard Andrew sigh.

“Kevin is a drama queen, but when it’s about that asshole, he is usually right. Riko will probably find out everything about you, and use it to his advantage. You know I don’t believe in regret, and it will do you no good. We will face anything that comes our way when it comes. You won’t face it alone, Neil.” Andrew said.

“I won’t run, Andrew.” Neil felt the necessity of stating that. He didn’t want Andrew to doubt him for even a second.

“I know.” Was Andrew’s answer. “You haven’t been a rabbit for a very long time.”

When Neil heard the end-call sound, he knew Andrew had said everything he wanted to. And it was enough for Neil to stop fearing his next step. He took a deep breath and walked inside the building once again. When he reached his desk, Dan, Renee and Matt smiled at him, Nicky winked, Allison sent him a kiss, Aaron nodded at him and Seth looked a little less grumpy. Neil felt a sudden warm inside his chest at their support.

“Let’s fucking win this thing!” Neil said and Dan whooped and clapped.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Neil was trying to give King a bath, when Andrew walked inside the bathroom with Neil’s phone in hand.

“Your friend Allison wants to know if you would like to go out with her and Seth.” Andrew said, sarcastically, and Neil rolled his eyes at him.

“I’m a bit too busy giving a bath to our cats, something that you should have done last week.” Neil complained, and Andrew huffed.

“Cats don’t need baths, they clean themselves. It’s in their nature, Josten.” Andrew replied, his tone indicating he had repeated himself thousand of times.

“I’m sorry that I don’t believe their tiny tongues can reach every centimeter of their fur.” Neil scrunched his nose when King tried to bit his fingers.

“Death by cat. At least Riko can’t get to you first.” Andrew said and Neil scowled.

“That is not funny, Andrew.”

“I know, I wasn’t trying to be.”

“At least you could be useful and text Allison back.”

“What do you want me to say? _Sorry, busy giving my cat a bath_?” Andrew mimicked Neil’s old English accent and Neil had to admit he didn’t do such a bad job.

“Just tell her I have something else tonight and we should do it another day.” Neil replied, paying attention to rubbing King’s fur with a fluffy towel. When he released the cat, King immediately ran off with an offended meow.

“You have cat hair all over you, it’s disgusting.” Andrew commented and Neil shrugged.

“I will take a bath to get rid of it.” And Neil started taking his shirt off. “Do you want to help me?”

Andrew scoffed at him.

“Later, then.” Neil grinned and Andrew rolled his eyes at him.

“Your wish in increasing your percentage is worrying, Neil.” Andrew said before turning around and leaving the bathroom. Before he closed the door, he could hear Neil laughing.

Later, when Andrew was kissing Neil down his chest, and Neil’s hands were roaming around blonde hair, feeling close to the brink, they heard their phones go off. Andrew ignored them, too busy at making Neil softly moan his name.

“Drew…” Neil whispered, when his phone started ringing again. And Andrew’s a moment later.

“I’m going to fucking kill whoever it is.” Andrew threatened, moving slightly away from Neil and trying to reach his phone without completely losing contact with Neil’s skin. “Here.” He grabbed Neil’s phone as well and gave it to his partner.

“Wymack is calling me.” Neil said.

“And mine is from Renee.” Andrew replied.

 _Shit,_ they both thought.

“Hey, boss.” Neil moved away towards the living room, only covered with his sheet.

“Neil, what the fuck took you so long? Something bad happened.” Wymack’s voice was distressed in a way Neil had never heard before. Behind his voice he could hear other people’s voices and what sounded like someone crying.

“What?”

“It was Seth. He died.” Wymack whispered and it sounded like he was moving away from the crying. “I just wanted to let you know before the news made a fucking shitstorm of it.”

Neil was frozen, but Wymack kept talking.

“Seth overdosed. I don’t know if you knew, but he had a past with it. We thought he was clean, but apparently he wasn’t.” Wymack’s voice was embargoed.

Wymack had made his life mission to save as many kids as he could. At first, Neil thought him an opportunist or an idealist, and then he actually met the man and realized he was just trying to do for others what no one else had done for him. Neil respected his wish to do his best for others and could only imagine how it would feel to see one of his kids fail like that. He wondered if that made Wymack lose a little of his faith in humanity, something that he seemed to cling to.

“Well, I have to go. Abby is with Allison.” and before Neil could say anything, Wymack hung up.

Neil turned around at the sound of footsteps. Seeing Andrew in only his underwear would have made his blood run hot any other day, but the only thing he could feel now was an empty sensation in his chest.

Andrew was holding his phone against his ear, saying goodbye to Renee. He put his phone down, on the coffee table, and looked at Neil. The couch between them felt like a wall, and Neil shivered at the distance. Still looking at Andrew, Neil felt the words falling from his lips.

_“Andrew, what have I done?”_


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Seth's death, Neil has to deal with his guilt and a psycho.

The next few days were a blur in Neil’s mind. He remembered arriving at the office after asking Wymack for a meeting, but didn’t know if he went by metro or if Andrew dropped him before going to the courtroom. He remembered apologizing to Wymack, but didn’t remember his exact words. But he did remember Wymack's expression, sad, angry and impatient. And more, he remembered his words.

“I don’t know what the fuck your mind came up with. You are not responsible for this, Seth had a past with drugs, and he had overdosed as a teen a couple of times. I had hoped Allison could set him straight… But in no way it could be your fault. I know your case with Moriyama is a hard one and the man is a creep, Kevin told me a lot about him, but I can’t imagine a CEO using that kind of resources to scare someone.” Wymack stated with a tone that took no nonsense, before sending Neil away to rest at home.

Neil didn’t want to rest, he simply couldn’t stay put, so he decided to run. Run until his body gave out and he just fell on the pavement, unable of taking another step. He looked up at the sky, ignoring the people that looked at him like he was insane. Maybe he was. For ignoring the power of death for the last six years.

During those years no one died close to him, he didn’t see anyone die for chasing him or plotted what to do to hide a body. He never killed anyone, not directly at least, but he helped his mother with it, and he knew it was as bad as the act itself.

 Andrew had a very personal view about that. According to him, if Neil was able of surviving to meet Andrew and turn his life upside down he couldn’t care less about the bodies mother and son left behind. Sometimes Neil agreed with him, but not this time. This time it was someone innocent, someone that didn’t have anything to do with the Moriyamas and the Wesninskis and Nathaniel, someone that Neil didn’t particularly like, but someone that actually stood by his side after Riko's call, even if in a revenge-y way. Someone that he knew, through Allison, that was more than an homophobic asshole, someone that saved her from being raped in college, someone that even while fighting with her, respected her boundaries more than anyone else in her life, someone that would never hurt her. Neil could barely stomach thinking about Allison right now, imagining her strong stance crumbling at seeing Seth’s body in the bathroom he was found in, by her and a security guard from the bar they were at.

Neil wondered when he had become this attached to people, and this uncomfortable with death. The last few years with Andrew softened him to the cruel people in the world and how far they could go to reach their purposes. Neil snorted ironically at it, that it was Andrew, that saw himself as a wall of ice, that made him change like that.

Feeling his phone vibrating in his pocket, Neil took it out to read a message from Kevin.

**_“I warned you.”_ **

Neil felt the rage growing at seeing those words and almost crushed the phone against the closest building. Finally rising from the ground, Neil felt a sudden burst of adrenaline kick in. Seth was dead, there was nothing he could do about that, but he could get the man behind it judged and put behind bars. Neil vowed to himself to succeed in it, not only for Seth, but to show Kevin that his way was not the right one.

Neil started working nonstop. And when, the next day after his talk with Wymack, the mail arrived and Neil received an empty bottle of pills, he knew his guess was right. Riko was trying to intimidate him without making it too obvious. He was trying to take him out before he became too dangerous. Neil wondered how long it would take for Riko to find out the truth about his past, with all his resources.

 

* * *

 

Everyone slowly returned to the office until the only absent was Allison. Intimately, Neil dreaded the moment where he would face her again. He couldn’t pretend that everything was alright, he would have to tell her, that he was the reason the man she loved was dead. But before that, he wanted to make sure everything was on the right track. And Dan’s friends actually ended up being more useful than he could ever imagine. It was much easier for one of them to talk with the girls that could have some kind of connection to Riko or even to get their hands on security tapes that showed his own security men carrying out some businesses.

But the biggest step in his plan to win appeared under the guise of a small girl, that at first looked like a bird the wind dragged in. She was an old friend of Neil, someone he met while being a law student, in college. Her name was Robin Cross, a girl that as a child was kidnapped and kept for years, suffering physical and sexual abuses, and being forced to actually help on the kidnap of another girl. Having escaped that horror, she had faced a long trial, after her kidnapper left her behind and killed himself. Neil had known her for years, and for all that time he had never needed her expertise, but now, he faced a case where all help was needed.

When Robin entered their office, Neil could immediately feel the change in the atmosphere. As lawyers, every one of his colleagues knew her. Her case was largely discussed in practice lessons, as a way to defend a victim that was brainwashed into helping commit another crime and the importance of having a mental health advisor when dealing with that kind of cases. Neil was sure to follow those advices, having already contacted a contact of Andrew, his old psychologist, to help him preparing Jean’s defense and describe the effects of the abuses in his mental state.

He liked to call Robin Andrew’s protégé, since when Andrew met her after the trial, he helped her through her recovery, taking her to Betsy Dobson’s office and making sure she received the best care. Neil never asked him why he did it, but he suspected the look Robin had, of a scared child in a horror movie, hit too close to home for Andrew to feel detached. And having Neil parroting day in, day out, about her case and how he wanted to help her like Andrew and Wymack did for him, probably did the trick as well. Anyway, she became a good friend for the both of them, sometimes joking that Neil was definitely her favorite.

Neil rose from his desk and approached her slowly, until Robin opened her arms and he embraced her softly. Like with Andrew, her limits were very important and well defined, and beside her father, Neil was the only man she hugged without any kind of uncomfortable feeling.

“Hey, thank you for coming!” Neil said, while guiding her to his desk to grab his laptop and some files, and then walk her to the meeting room, a more secluded place that could protect Robin from his colleagues' gossipy eyes. “I didn’t want to meet with you outside in case someone saw us. Since the building has a psychologist office and a bunch of other businesses that could interest you I thought it would be safer.” Neil explained, while preparing the files in front of Robin.

“No problem. You know I’m always ready to help you. You helped me so much during my case…”

“I was just a student trying to get on the good side of one of my teachers.” Neil replied and Robin smiled softly at him. “Anyway, I called you here because I need your expertise.” Neil started, pointing at the files in front of her and then showing her some pictures on the computer. “This man was assaulted for years by his boss, and finally decided to come through. I have witnesses, but I need more to get this bastard. I know he deals with prostitution and traffic, probably not only drugs and guns. I want to know if you can get into his computer, security cameras at the office, his GPS, anything really, that could get me hard evidence. You know how people love a good video footage.” Neil’s last words were cold and angry and Robin knew he was probably remembering the way her case had swayed when people saw the kind of videos her kidnapper had of her.

Robin nodded tersely, and sighed. She liked the power the computer gave her, the ability to step back when she needed, but still having everything at arm’s length. She hated the way her past haunted her and the opinions others had of her, and the internet gave her the anonymity she needed to do her work.

“You can use my computer. This way you don’t have to worry about them knowing it was you.” Neil said and Robin smiled.

“You make it sound like I can get caught, and besides, your dinosaur would do me no good.” She joked, taking a sleek silver computer from her bag and opening it on the table. “Now, go get them, Wonder Boy, while I do my magic! By the way, if Andrew is here, can he make me one of those amazing coffees he does? And don’t worry, I know it’s a secret he likes to do Rated-R stuff with you.” Robin said all this without looking up from her computer and Neil felt a rush of pride at her improvement over the years. Until her last sentence actually entered his brain.

“Robin! You are spending too much time with Andrew! You can’t say stuff like that with a blank face!” Robin chuckled and Neil huffed, before leaving the room.

As soon as he stepped out, Nicky was on him like an eagle on a mouse.

“That was Robin Cross, wasn’t she? Do you know her? Don’t tell me you worked on her case? Were you a student? Is she the person you are in a relationship? Give me something, Neil!” Nicky begged and Neil rubbed his temples, predicting a migraine.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No.” Nicky actually counted on his fingers to make sure what question got the no.

“Oh, c’mon! You really need to tell me about this mystery person! It’s what friends do!” Nicky said, forgetting that he had been previously curious about Robin.

“We are?” Neil asked and Nicky looked confused. “Friends?”

Nicky froze for a few seconds, and Neil heard people sign close to him. Looking up, he saw Renee watching him with sad eyes, Matt with his mouth half open and Dan with an angry expression. Aaron was trying to ignore the conversation, but it was obvious he was uncomfortable. And Kevin was looking over a big pile of files not knowing if he should intervene or not.

“Of course, rookie!” Nicky said, after a down expression flew over his face. He messed with Neil’s hair and smiled. “Now, if you don’t tell us about ML…”

“ML?”

“Mystery Lover, keep up, Neil! You can tell us why Robin Cross is here.”

Neil looked at his colleagues.

“I know all of you know about her past, but she is my friend and she is helping me with something for a case, so I beg of you to respect her privacy and don’t tell anyone she is here.” Neil was giving this speech when he heard the elevators’ doors open and a familiar clack clack of high heels, probably Louis Viton, if Neil guessed correctly, approach them.

Neil looked up.

In a perfect tailored dark blue suit, Allison was walking with the strength of a bull. Neil could see that she had lost weight, her cheekbones were more pronounced, and her eyes were hollow, despite the perfect makeup surrounding them. But she was there and Neil immediately dropped his eyes to the floor, ashamed of the guilt she would definitely see in his blue irises.

Renee and Dan jumped to embrace her, and Neil saw how her frame shook infinitesimally when she felt the warm of their arms. Nicky and Matt quickly joined the group, and Aaron and Kevin, with more detachment, stood close, offering words of comfort. Only Neil stayed behind, watching them.

“Aren’t you going to join the love hug?” Andrew asked from behind Neil. The younger man signed.

“Since I got her boyfriend killed, I don’t think she will want me close to her.” Neil replied, without looking at Andrew.

“The princess might surprise you.”  this time it was Robin speaking.

“Are you ganging up on me?” Neil asked, seeing the hug disintegrate and his colleagues move to their respective desks. When Allison looked up, Neil turned around and pulled Robin with him. He heard Andrew scoff at his reaction and felt Allison’s eyes on the back of his neck. He had to control himself from rubbing his neck consciously.

Neil was able of hiding from Allison for a total of four hours, until, with a miscalculated bathroom break he found himself face to face with her in front of the bathroom door. Neil considered just backtracking into the room and hide until he knew what to say to her, but the expression on Allison’s face spoke more than any words she could utter, and rising to his full height, that wasn’t all that big, Neil faced her.

“I’m sorry, Allison.” Neil said, not letting his eyes waver from her face.

“For hiding from me? Or for getting Seth killed?” Allison asked in a callous tone and Neil flinched. “I can accept it for the first, but not for the second.” She stated and Neil sighed.

“I have to win this case, but after that I can find another job if it makes everything easier for you.” Neil suggested and Allison shook her head, making Neil’s heart stutter.

“I don’t want you to leave, Neil. You didn’t give the pills to Seth, right? Andrew already told me of his theory and I’m going to give you the same answer I gave him. I want Riko Moriyama fucking destroyed, but he is the only guilty part in all this, so you better win against him, Neil.” And Allison turned around and walked towards her desk, leaving a flabbergasted Neil behind.

“She is a smart one.” Robin commented from the entryway to the girls bathroom.

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop.” Neil replied and Robing shrugged.

“It's not my fault she had to corner you in a bathroom.” Robin replied. “But I needed to talk to you as well. I found some weird stuff when I was going through Riko's phone call.”

Neil followed Robin into her Headquarters as she called the meeting room, and looked at her computer with trepidation. There, he could see a couple of text messages she recovered and those made his eyes widen.

_It’s done, boss._

**_Completely?_ **

_The hunting season went well. That fox won’t go peruse in no one’s trash._

**_Send the stuff on the mail to their hole._ **

_Should check the rest of the group?_

**_Stand down for now. But get me some gin._ **

 

“This was sent five minutes after Allison found Seth.” Neil said. He had read the coroner’s and the police’s report. “It’s clear what they mean. And they sent me the pills’ bottle as well.”

“Maybe there are some prints in there?” Robin asked and Neil shook his head.

“I already checked it. It’s clean. But this gin reference…” Neil hummed under his breath and Robin pulled up a few other texts.

“These are some other texts where he talks about drinks. It’s probably a code for some kind of person.” Neil nodded at Robin’s conclusions.

“I'm waiting for Dan’s friends to get me a list of the nights Riko's men got some girl and the kind of state she appeared in.”

“I will keep him under surveillance. This kind of bastard doesn’t deserve to walk free.” Robin spat and grimaced, while putting her things inside her bag. “I will send you daily updates.” She promised and Neil smiled appreciatively.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It took an entire week for Dan’s friends to give her some information that could help Neil. According to them, all the girls seen in the company of Riko's men were unable of remembering where they had been or with whom, and all of them had a history of drug abuse. Neil wondered if they went to him hoping for an easy fix and woke up to a nightmare of a blank mind. Losing control of their own body like that made Neil shiver, remembering not only Andrew's past, but the way his father used his body as a punching bag for the first ten years of his life.

Two days after Neil received the list of the girls, a call from an unknown number appeared on his phone. Neil was sitting at his desk, seeing Renee make a magic trick under the mesmerized eyes of Nicky, and Kevin’s threats of unemployment if they didn’t stop. His mood was in high spirits and when he answered the call, Neil was still smiling.

“Hello, Nathaniel. Long time no see.” Riko's silky voice spoke from the other side of the phone and Neil felt like everything inside of him turned into lead. He was still seeing Renee and Nicky, but at the same time he was a child again, seeing a Japanese boy destroy his favorite toy and push him down until he cried.

“You called the wrong number.” Neil replied, but he knew he failed. His voice lacked the confusion of someone in a wrong call, it lacked the normalcy. His voice trembled and Neil had to swallow to keep from stuttering.

“Well, I don’t think so. But maybe I should call the phone number of Perimeter Street, number 4B. I wonder if a certain blonde man or his boy toy would answer.” Neil felt like all the air in the room suddenly disappeared. Riko knew not only about his past, but where he and Andrew lived as well. “Or maybe I should find someone that resembled a certain Drake Spear and have him visit your boyfriend.”

Neil didn’t know what kind of reaction he had to those words, but he knew whatever sound he made, it was loud enough for the rest of the Foxes to look at him. But Neil was too furious to care.

“Tell me where, you motherfucker!” he growled, before running out of the office without sparing the rest of them a look. He could hear Renee and Kevin chasing him, but the elevator’s door was quicker than them.

Riko gave him an address and Neil closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He knew he was walking into a trap, but he couldn’t care less. Not when Andrew was being used.

Still, better be safe than sorry. And so Neil sent to a journalist he knew the recorded conversation of him and Riko from all those weeks ago. At least, Riko couldn’t kill him now. And if he did, everyone would know.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko and Neil face each other and Andrew is left to mend his boy.

Neil approached the dilapidated building with anxiety running through his veins. He knew it was a trap, he knew he was probably offering himself as a punching bag, but he hoped his reckless move could make some difference. Especially when he received a text message right before he entered telling that everything was ready to blow. Neil read that text and ignored all the other calls the Foxes tried to make, before actually kicking the door open and step inside.

The building was empty and filled with dirt, signs of vandalism and illegal acts all around the floor and walls. Neil grimaced at the space and walked through the garbage, trying to evade every broken bottle lying around.

As soon as Neil crossed the threshold into the last room, its walls filled with graffiti and burned marks, he felt someone move closer to his right, and before he could look, he felt a fist connecting with his face. The force was so sudden that he barely stayed on his feet, stumbling a couple of steps away.

“Weak. And here I was wondering how you and your pathetic mother escaped your father. Apparently it was pure luck, since you are such a weakling. Pathetic, really.” Riko spoke from behind Neil and, turning around, Neil faced him for the first time since they were children. “It’s been such a long time, my old friend.”

Neil felt movement from behind him and ducked, feeling the air move over his head. He realized that if he hadn’t moved he would be on the floor right now.

“You are this insecure, Riko? Need to face a man with a bodyguard?” Neil spat and he moved away to face the two men.

Riko was smirking at him, while the other man, that looked like someone from a mixed martial arts combat, stared him down.

“And apparently your boy isn’t strong enough to defend himself from his abuser… maybe he enjoyed it in the end.” Riko said and Neil saw red.

Roaring inhumanly, Neil ran towards Riko, but before he could reach him, he was airborne, another body against his chest, both of them falling in a heap, with Neil sandwiched between the floor and the bigger man.

“So, here we have it. Your Achilles’s wheel. Andrew Joseph Minyard, 5 foot zero, lawyer, 28 years old.” Riko stated, while his bodyguard punched Neil over and over.

Neil tried to respond and he saw with glee the man’s nose start bleeding after a well directed punch.

“Or maybe, Nathan Wesninski, former business man/employee of my family, currently in prison after he killed his wife and tried to do the same with his son.” Riko stated and he kept going, stating info after info about Neil’s colleagues and even Wymack and Abby.

“Such a nice couple, don’t you think? Giving all these brats a second chance…” by now, Neil was sure he had at least two cracked ribs and his face probably resembled an abstract painting in purples and reds. “And poor, young Seth. He was a bastard,but ending like that… such a pity…”

“I will prove you killed Seth and every crime you ever committed will see the light of day!” Neil promised and Riko laughed out loud.

“How could you prove anything if you might not walk out of here alive?” Riko asked and Neil smiled, feeling the pain in his bruised face.

“If I die everyone will know you did it.”

Riko smirked at his words, his eyes glistening with a savage nature. Neil wasn't a fearful person, not after he grew up with Nathan Wesninski as his father, but the way Riko's eyes shone without any kind of remorse or conscience made Neil realize why his father allowed Riko close to Nathaniel, he probably wanted his son to learn from another psychopath, this time closer to his age. Neil wonder how many people, beside Jean, suffered throughout the years at Riko's hands, so he could satisfy his cruel appetites. 

“Dear Nathaniel, I’m in Paris right now. I have a perfect alibi. News flash, you are a child playing a grown ups' game.” Riko kneeled close to Neil and grabbed his face, smearing the blood running from his nose.

“Speaking of news, maybe you should check yours. I bet you have an alert on your name.” Neil said and Riko's eyes glared at him.

“What have you done, Nathaniel?” his voice was now beyond cold, it was animal-like, vicious, dangerous.

“Maybe you know someone called Laila Dermott, she is a great reporter and received today a very interesting recorded conversation.” Neil said and saw with satisfaction Riko pull his phone out of his pocket with worry.

Riko started pacing, while his phone connected with the internet and gave him the answers he was looking for. Both their voices filled the room and their first conversation echoed around them like a concert.

“You fucker!” Riko roared and landed two kicks on Neil’s side. This time Neil was sure his ribs were really cracked. It hurt to breath and he could feel the blood pulling inside his mouth from where he had bitten himself. Nevertheless, he smiled, blood over his teeth making him look like a character in a horror movie. “Do you have a recorder on you?” Riko started ripping Neil’s clothes with a knife he pulled from somewhere.

 Neil could feel the blade cutting him and before he could ready himself, he saw Riko's fist approaching his temple and knew no more.

 

* * *

 

 

When he woke up, Neil recognized the back of his building rising over his fallen body. Groaning and barely able to breath, Neil rose from the floor, using the wall as support. He could feel the blood running down his chest. At least they gave him his jacket back, hiding the gruesome wounds behind it. Neil wondered if he should risk entering through the front door and be caught by the security guard or one of their neighbors, and in the end decided that using the fire escape was a better idea.

Neil closed the window behind him, after almost dying a couple of times, seconds before he heard a furious rattle in the door lock. Andrew wouldn't be happy that he entered through the fire escape again, and would probably try to dismantle the thing to keep any unwelcome visitor from trying it was well. Knowing it was useless to hide his injuries, Neil stumbled into the kitchen and sat at the table, barely able to keep his eyes open. He suspected a concussion was behind it, especially when a wave of dizziness almost made him puke when he turned to face the kitchen entryway. 

When Andrew appeared in the kitchen, with furious and searching eyes, and he found Neil there, clearly beaten and leaving a pool of blood around him, Neil wasn’t sure if Andrew would punch him or kiss him. And probably Andrew didn’t as well. Especially when he frozen for the first five seconds that he stood there.

“What the fuck happened?” he roared from the threshold, barely able to keep his hands from trembling.

“Riko.” Neil answered simply and Andrew glared.

“Tell me something I didn’t know.” Andrew said, before turning his back on Neil. For a second Neil felt bereft at Andrew’s departure, but then he heard the blonde rummaging inside the bathroom and the next moment Andrew was walking back with a first aid kit.

More than once Andrew had to shoo away the cats, that feeling the scent of blood in the air, walked around the couple with their fur standing on end, like they were trying to protect Andrew and Neil from an outside attack.

Andrew started cleaning Neil’s face softly, making sure to get rid of every spot of blood. When he realized Neil was bleeding from under his jacket, he took Neil’s hand after making sure he could touch him and brought him into the bathroom.

“Strip.” Andrew said blankly.

“You don’t have to sound so enthusiast about seeing me naked.” Neil tried to joke, but the way he grimaced when trying to get rid of the jacket made Andrew glare at him while helping him. “I might have cracked one or two ribs.” Neil tried to pass his trembling as being cold, but Andrew wouldn't be deceived.

“I’m going to kill him!” Andrew whispered, his fingers hovering over Neil’s cuts, but not really touching. The blood was clotting already, but its redness against Neil’s pale skin made for a horror picture. “Why did you go to him? Nicky told me you were fighting with someone on the phone and then just took off.” Andrew said, while starting to clean the cuts. Some of them might have needed stitches, but Andrew wanted to get everything clean before attempting to sew his partner’s skin together.

Neil looked down, unsure of what to say. But something was clear, he couldn’t lie to Andrew, not after all the promises they made to each other about trust and respect. Sighing, Neil looked into Andrew’s eyes.

“He said he would send someone like Drake…” but before Neil could finish, Andrew covered Neil’s mouth with his hand. It was clear he knew what Neil would say next by the mere presence of that name between them.

For long moments, Andrew was silent. Neil was wondering if he would stay that way the rest of the day, when Andrew’s fingers started rubbing slowly over Neil’s lips.

“When someone comes for you, you should let me take care of it.” Andrew started, his fingers slipping slowly from Neil’s mouth. Neil would be lying if he said he didn’t love the feeling of Andrew’s fingers against his mouth and by Andrew’s heated gaze the only thing keeping him from following in that tease was all of Neil’s blood currently dirtying the floor and his body, and the name hovering over them like a curse ready to bring back painful memories.

“If it means losing you, then no. Besides, we no longer have a deal, remember?” Neil tried to smile cheekily, but his face hurt too much to hold it.

“I wouldn’t protect you because of a deal.” Andrew said, softly. And Neil was able of smiling sadly at him.

“I know, that’s why I couldn’t let someone like that come a foot from you. While I breath I will never let you pay for my actions, Andrew.” Neil vowed and Andrew glared at him.

Andrew moved closer to Neil’s mouth and stopped before their lips could touch, letting Neil decide. And he did, moving his mouth against Andrew’s with passion, forgetting about his injuries under the warm of Andrew’s skin. Their tongues moved around each other in a dance of worry and care, with Andrew holding back from grabbing Neil like he liked to.

“Stupid martyr.” Andrew said after moving away, before he started the painstaking actions of stitching Neil’s skin. Neil did his best to not make a sound, but Andrew could feel the way he trembled with every new stitch.

“Tomorrow you are going to stay at home.” Andrew stated and Neil glared at him.

“Why? I’m fine.” Neil said and Andrew actually growled at him.

“Maybe I should give you a dictionary for your birthday tomorrow.” Andrew replied and Neil opened his mouth in shock. He had completely forgotten about his birthday, a day where Neil Josten was born and not Nathaniel Wesninski. March, not January...

“Okay.” Neil said. Ever since they started living together, they always spent Neil’s birthday together. While Andrew couldn’t care less about his own birthday, he always made sure to give something to Neil, usually stuff for his camera that Neil used almost daily to keep as many memories of them as he could. And maybe Andrew just wanted to keep him close and safe for one more day, and Neil should be working non stop on how to defeat Riko especially after today, but truth be told, it was a day Andrew helped creating, a day for only them and screw everything else for just twenty four hours.

“I will call Wymack.” Andrew said and Neil rose one of his eyebrows in worry.

“Won’t he think strange for you to know I will be absent from work?”

“I already told you. Wymack is able of seeing beyond the superficial. I’m sure he won’t be shocked.” And so Andrew made the call on loudspeaker.

“Andrew, why is everyone in the office afraid you might have killed Neil?” was Wymack's greeting. By his tone of voice he couldn’t be less worried.

“No idea, I’m always telling you to check their desks, they are probably taking drugs.” Andrew answered. “Anyway, Neil won’t go to work tomorrow and neither will I.”

“I know,  I have a fucking good memory, midget!” Wymack replied. “Tell him happy birthday for me.”

After Wymack hanged up, Andrew smirked at Neil.

“See? Told you so.”

“He won’t be happy you lied to him.” Neil replied. “About me missing work merely because of my birthday. I know you want me to rest because of my injuries as well.”

“Have you heard that saying, kill two birds with one stone?” Andrew asked, before taping Neil’s stitches and guiding him into their bedroom.

Andrew helped him put on his pajamas and Neil was sure Andrew was having too much fun taking his pants away and giving his pajama bottoms too slowly. Andrew helped Neil lay down as well, supporting as much as he could his upper body and making sure his ribs were as comfortable as they could. Later he brought food and painkillers that Neil accepted appreciatively. When Andrew laid down next to Neil, hours later, the blonde man spent hours watching the sleeping injured man. His fingers moved over Neil’s auburn hair, too tired to stir at the feather-light touch. Andrew mesmerized at it, remembering a time where Neil would jump from the bed at every raindrop or wind outside their window. And how long it took for them to feel comfortable sharing a bed, until the nightmares were only rare visitors, until spooning was a way of calming themselves down.

Sir and King were currently sleeping around Neil, something that they usually never did, choosing the end of the bed on normal nights. Andrew felt a kind of companionship with the felines, seeing them trying to protect their martyr in such a way.

“Asshole, I hate you so much.” Andrew whispered, letting his hand fall against Neil’s chest, where he could feel the other’s heart beating steadily.

Seeing Neil injured like that made things to Andrew’s insides that he swore to never feel again after he got out of juvie, and once again Neil Josten was proving him wrong, like he did from the first time they met six years ago. And again and again, Andrew was feeling like he was jumping from a building exponentially higher, falling and falling until he couldn’t count how many times he had fallen, but had never reach the ground.

Stupid Neil and his stupid personality and his stupid respect and his stupid care… _and his stupid love…_

Andrew sighed and closed his eyes. He would hate Neil a little bit more in the morning when he had to give him his present and see his reaction. But for now, he would just rest for a couple of hours.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Neil's attack, the Foxes react and something unexpected happens.

The next morning, when Neil opened his eyes, the first things he saw were two balls of fur, one black and one tortoiseshell. The next thing he saw was a blonde head next to the balls of fur. And while he was watching these three things, he was feeling like a truck just run over his entire body, at least twice.

He tried to move silently, sparing Andrew from the morning wakeup call of someone else’s pain, but as soon as he tried to rise his upper body from the bed, Neil felt his cracked ribs protesting and without wanting to, groaned lowly in the back of his throat. As soon as the sound left his lips, Andrew’s head jumped from the pillow, scaring the cats away, while his eyes moved around in frenzy. When he found Neil with a sheepish expression, Andrew’s eyes squinted at him and he ruffled his blond hair.

“Why do I put up with you?” Andrew asked out loud, rising from the bed and pulling on a shirt at the same time. He liked to sleep skin to skin with Neil, to feel his scars and know it was his partner and not some nightmare from his past.

“The sex is pretty good, if the sounds you make are to be counted… And I make a mean Bolognese!” Neil replied, with a grin, and Andrew sighed, walking around the bed and helping Neil sit against the headboard. Neil used the proximity to steal a kiss from Andrew’s cheek and the blonde turned his back on Neil with a huff. Nonetheless his quick movement, Neil could still see the rose hue in Andrew’s cheeks.

“I’m making breakfast.” Andrew announced and Neil hummed as confirmation.

While Andrew was away, King and Sir approached the bed again and kept Neil occupied with patting their soft fur. Since the movements were so soft, Neil was kept relatively pain-free, as long as you don’t count breathing as a pain-related movement. He didn’t.

Neil heard Andrew approach the bedroom, and looked up, seeing him bring a tray with fruits, coffee and cereals.  

“Here.” Andrew said, maneuvering the tray and throwing a small box in Neil’s direction.

Neil tried to grab it, but his injured muscles refused to move with their normal speediness and so, Kind meowed, angry, at barely escaping the flying box, that fell innocuously between the cats. Neil looked at Andrew and then at the box, confused.

“Happy fucking birthday, idiot.” Andrew said and Neil’s eyes widened. It was only yesterday that Andrew used Neil’s birthday as an excuse to keep him in bed after the beating he took from Riko and his bodyguards, but Neil had already forgotten what day it was. He knew confusion was a side effect of the mild concussion he knew he had, so Neil merely smiled at Andrew’s worried expression.

Stretching a little to reach the box, Neil opened the unusually small gift. Andrew usually gifted him with clothes, stuff for his camera, or sports things, like shoes, but Neil couldn’t conceive what could be inside such a small thing. But as soon as he opened it, Neil felt his body freeze. He could sense Andrew beside him, moving uncomfortably while trying to actually look nonchalant, waiting for his reaction, but all Neil could do was observed the object with something akin to reverence.

“It was you that said you wanted to get married, don’t go all cold feet at me.” Andrew growled and Neil finally looked up from the silver band resting inside the box.

“I do.” Neil said, a smile stretching all over his face.

Andrew crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed.

“That’s only for the ceremony, dumbass. Now you just have to say yes or no.” Andrew replied, but Neil could see the tip of his ears reddening.

“Always yes.” Neil answered, a shit-eating grin taking over his face.

“You look like a madman.” Andrew criticized, but still sat next to Neil, took the ring from the box and put it on Neil’s finger.

Neil moved slowly towards Andrew’s face. When he was only mere millimeters away from his lips, Neil whispered.

“Do you marry me, Andrew Joseph Minyard?”

Andrew’s eyes glared at him and the color spread from his hears to his cheeks. Neil loved that he was the only one that could make Andrew blush and was the only one that got to see that as well.

“Yes.” Andrew whispered back and they met in the middle, their lips crushing together, Andrew’s fingers squeezing Neil’s hand, the silver band quickly warming against Andrew’s skin.

Neil could remember the first time he shook Nicky’s hand and how his wedding band was so pronounced against his skin. Now, Neil couldn’t wait to shake someone else’s hand and let them know he had his own ring, not yet a wedding, but a promise of one. Neil smiled against Andrew’s lips and the blonde moved away.

“You have to eat to take your pain meds.” He ordered, but the harsh tone of his voice was completely erased by the way he fed Neil strawberries and grapes. “If you were not beaten up like that I would show you!” Andrew threatened when Neil sucked on his finger with a wicked expression on his face. Andrew had to rearrange his seating position and Neil grinned at him.

“Luckily, that part of my anatomy doesn’t hurt at all.” Neil said suggestively, and Andrew growled at him. Neil licked his lips and moved the tray away, letting his body slowly fall against the pillows.

“I’m going to hurt you.” Andrew growled and Neil shook his head.

“If it hurts I will tell you.” Neil replied, the sincerity shining in his eyes.

Andrew rubbed his eyes, warring with the two basic instincts of his nature: protect Neil from pain and give Neil pleasure. When he sighed and pulled Neil’s pajama pants, Neil grinned at the winning side.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Neil had barely walked out of the lift when he heard Nicky barreling towards him.

“Oh my god! What did Andrew do to you?”

For a maddening second, Neil feared Nicky could read his mind and be privy to the images he was remembering, of what Andrew had exactly done to him the previous morning and afternoon and night…

And then Neil really looked at Nicky and saw the way his hands were hovering a respectful distance from his face, like he wanted to embrace it, but was too afraid of the repercussions.

 “The fuck?” Matt’s voice joined Nicky’s panicked one.

“I don’t care if he is a psycho, I will kill him.” Dan said and Allison, standing beside her, was already closing her fist like she was ready to start punching someone.

“You don’t know if it was Andrew!” Aaron said, an angry tone that surprised Neil.

“I know who it was.” Kevin stated and Neil saw the _I told you so_ written all over his face.

“Neil, do you need to go to the hospital?” Renee asked, and behind her Wymack and Abby were walking towards them, alerted by the assembly standing around Neil.

Neil didn’t know why Wymack and Abby were there that morning, since they spent the majority of their time teaching or helping kids in need, and Neil actually knew that they were supposed to be at the University, but something told Neil Wymack hadn’t completely believed Andrew’s nonchalant conversation on the phone. He was probably there to assess the injuries and do some damage control. Wymack made Neil follow him, away from prying ears, and only when he was certain the rest of the team couldn’t hear them, did he let his rage show. Abby was a bit behind them, clearly acting as a wall between the rest of the office.

“Tell me you didn’t meet with Moryiama without a witness.” Wymack stated and Neil shrugged. Wymack sighed and rubbed his temples. “God dammit!” he bellowed, while Abby closed the distance between her and Neil.

“I don’t know if you know but I have a nursing degree as well, so, I think it’s better for me to check up on you.” Abby suggested and Neil nodded. He wasn’t all too sure the stitches Andrew did were tight enough, since he wasn’t really well versed in the area, only picking up stuff Neil told him about his life on the run and how he took care of his own injuries.

Abby made him sit on a chair, in her office, after she locked the door behind them and Wymack, who was acting like a grim shadow, and asked Neil to take off his shirt. He did it with a detachment to the whole situation that left Abby with a bad taste on her mouth.  It had been years, but he could still remember her face when pictures of his injuries were shown on his father’s trial. The way her mouth had thinned and her fingers crushed the wood of the bench she was sitting on. Neil smiled softly at her, trying to say that everything was alright, but she was having none of it.

“They keep hurting my foxes. Why do they do that?” Abby asked, while poking around the stitches and making sure there was no inflamed skin in risk of infection.

“I’m going to destroy that bastard.” Wymack snarled and Neil looked at him.

“This is my fight, boss. You gave me the opportunity to have a job and help people…”

“But not at the expanse of your life, Neil!” Wymack interrupted him.

“Riko killed Seth! I have to see him behind bars!” Neil said and Wymack deflated.

“What? No, Neil! Seth overdosed! What the hell are you thinking? What kind of crazy idea got into your brain?” Wymack asked, while Abby glared at Neil.

“We all knew Seth was at risk, his addiction was deep-rooted on his past traumas.” Abby replied and Neil shook his head.

“Why would Riko do something like that, kid?” Wymack asked, walking from one wall to the other.

“To scare me into giving up. He couldn’t do anything directly to me or it would be too obvious, so he tried to scare me.” Neil replied and Abby shook her head.

“All this looks pretty direct to me, Neil.” she replied softly and Neil sighed.

“He only did this because he had an alibi that could put him in Paris.” Neil replied, and then, seeing Wymack and Abby’s doubting faces he told them the last truth. “He sent me an empty box of the same pills Seth overdosed with.”

Wymack opened his mouth, clearly to answer back and then closed it again, defeated. Abby’s eyes filled with unshed tears, that she stopped from falling with pure willpower.

The three of them were silent after that, Wymack sitting on Abby’s couch, Abby touching up some less than perfect stitches, and Neil regretting putting that expression on their faces, the two adults that never gave up on him since the moment they met him.

“I’m sorry.” Neil finally said. “I already told Allison that I would leave if you think I’m too dangerous to keep working here. And I will. I just ask of you that you let me end Riko, and then I will go away.”

Both Wymack and Abby looked up at his words and glared at him with twin angry expressions.

“You can’t leave, Neil!” Abby exclaimed.

“No one is sending you away!” Wymack bellowed.

“I will talk with Allison if she has any problem with you.” Abby suggested, always the peacemaker.

“She reacted the same way as you.” Neil answered and they sighed in relieve. “But you are responsible for the people outside this office. They are all adults, with their own houses and families, but you two brought them together and helped them reach those goals. You know what’s best for your team. I hope your judgement doesn’t get clouded because of your wish to do well by everyone.” Neil glared at them and they glared back.

“Andrew is right, you are an idiotic martyr.” Wymack said and Neil looked at him curiously.

“Andrew speaks about me?” Neil asked and Wymack rolled his eyes, at the same time Abby chuckled.

“We are not stupid, boy! Don’t treat us like we are!” Wymack grinned at Neil and Neil grinned back. “I had never seen Andrew like that before you… Besotted boy!” and Wymack laughed out loud.

“So, you don’t mind?” Neil asked and Wymack rolled his eyes.

“If you two were going around killing people, that would bother me. Now, if you go around making each other happy without hurting anyone, why would it bother me? At least now, I have someone to help me deal with Andrew’s pigheadedness.”

Abby squeezed Neil’s hand, and when she felt his new ring against her skin, she grinned so widely Neil feared her face would split in two.

Yup, it felt pretty great seeing someone react to his band, Neil thought, returning the blinding smile.

 

* * *

 

 

However, Neil’s colleagues weren’t as easily swayed like Wymack and Abby, especially because they still had the suspicion that Andrew was the one behind Neil’s injuries.

“Are you telling me you got mugged?” Dan asked and Neil nodded.

“We saw Andrew come in here, asking about you, with those angry eyes of his.” Matt completed and Neil felt his heart beating faster. Andrew had known something was wrong, he had asked the rest of the lawyers, that he hated, about Neil, not caring about the consequences.

“He is lying.” Kevin angrily said, pointing an accusing finger at the auburn-haired man. “He met with Riko and got his ass kicked!”

Neil glared at Kevin. “I walked away alive, didn’t I? Maybe I’m not as stupid as you think!”

“Just because you got that recorded conversation it doesn’t make you brilliant!”  Kevin rebounded and Allison sighed.

“Can you stop acting like two kids fighting to know who is right?” Allison argued and Neil had the strong wish of asking why she was berating them for something she did on a daily basis. “And care about the very important thing in here?” Allison looked around, waiting for someone to say something. “Like Neil’s ring!”

Everyone moved as one to peek at Neil’s hand and he felt himself sweat with all the attention his body was having.

“But you were already married, right Neil?” Nicky asked.

“Did you lie to us about that as well?” Kevin accused.

“We just made it more official, jeez…” Neil replied, rethinking the pleasure he had when imagining people noticing his ring. Maybe having it goggled at, by all his colleagues, wasn’t the best of ideas.

“And you didn’t invite us!” Nicky accused, cleaning a fake tear from his eye.

“It was just a birthday gift.” Neil tried to say, but everyone sounded even more shocked.

“Wait! Your birthday was yesterday?” Matt asked, his eyes worried about something Neil couldn’t understand.

“You should have told us! We could have made a party for you!” Dan bellowed, quickly grabbing her phone and started searching for something.

“Yes, and we could have treated his wounds at the same time he was blowing the candles.” Aaron pipped from his desk, and Nicky cuffed him on the back of his head.

“You are so practical, Aaron. I don’t know how we can be cousins.” Nicky sighed and Aaron rolled his eyes.

“I ask myself that same question every day.” A voice said from behind them and Andrew walked into the space shared by all of their desks.

Neil smiled softly at him, while Nicky started winning about Neil’s lack of birthday party.

“I already wished him a happy birthday. I don’t know why you didn’t do it as well.” Andrew replied and Nicky opened his mouth in shock. “Maybe you should read people’s files when Wymack asks your input about a new lawyer.”

“Wait! Wymack asked your opinion about me?” Neil asked, turning on Andrew, surprised at that information. Andrew hadn’t mentioned anything about it, and Neil was suddenly afraid his relationship with Andrew might be the only reason he was working in that office right now.

“I’m sorry I don’t have time for stuff like that! I was in the middle of two cases and planning a second honeymoon with Erik!” Nicky replied and Neil felt his stomach drop.

_Wait, did Wymack show his file to everyone? Did they know about his past? Did they know he helped killing people while on the run? Did they know he had been under FBI’s protection? What about his scars? And his fears? His nightmares? His PTSS?_

Neil looked around all the faces of his colleagues, the questions flying over his head like Hitchcock’s birds, haunting and dark. He noticed Dan’s worried face and wondered if she was recalling what she read about his violent tendencies.  He saw Renee step forward and suspected she was going to protect their colleagues from his attack. Allison was opening her mouth to say something and Neil speculated if she was going to accuse him of killing Seth just like the killer his father was. And then Matt was moving quickly towards him, and Neil was stepping back, stumbling on a chair and falling to the ground, crouching like he had done when his father found him and his mother, ready to beg for mercy against the ax or the cleaver, whatever his father had more at hand. And did Matt have a cleaver? Or a knife? And he felt hands on the back of his neck and tried to move away, because he knew they were going to choke him, until he couldn’t see anything, until he was gasping for air and drooling, dying on the floor.

“Fucking idiot, breath!” He said, the voice that Neil learned to recognize even in the middle of a nightmare. He, the man that Neil learned to trust, to care, to love. The man he knew would never hurt him, and finally Neil recognized the fingers touching his neck, they belonged to him, the man he would die for. His…

“Andrew!” Neil gasped, opening his eyes and seeing a blur of blonde hair over his face.

Andrew’s hands were touching him, one of them against the back of his neck, the other against his chest, like he wanted to make sure Neil’s heart was still beating. A glass of water was thrusted in front of Neil’s face and when he followed the arm he froze, recognizing Aaron. Probably he was the only one brave enough, besides Renee, to approach Andrew right now. Because, when Neil looked at Andrew he saw the way his eyes were sending daggers at no one and everyone, how his body was held tensely, like a wild animal ready to defend his family.

“You had a panic attack.” Andrew informed in a blank tone, contrary to his body’s posture. He helped Neil take a gulp of water and then rise to a standing position.

Neil looked around at the people surrounding him, and noticed, with shock, that their faces were transfigured in fear and care. Nicky was crying silently, hanging on Renee’s hand. What he expected to see, rage and lack of trust, was nowhere to be seen.

“All your file mentioned was your birth day, your academic history and your job experience.” Dan said, her hand moving around in a soothing way. “We would never pry into your past without your knowledge. Wymack and Abby would never disclose anything you didn’t want them to. We respect your silence and your wish to protect yourself, but please, Neil, know we care about you, you are our friend, our little brother and we would never do anything to hurt you or for you to not trust us. We are a family in here, a dysfunctional, weird nutty family, we protect each other, because, really, outside no one is going to protect us. Every one of us comes from shitty backgrounds, but Wymack saw something in us, like he saw something in you, that he knew would make you perfect for this odd family. Please, Neil, trust us.” Dan said and Neil sagged against Andrew. The blonde barely had time to grab him, before Neil fell to the ground again, too tired to stand a second longer, but this time, he let Matt help him bring Neil’s tired body to his own office, where they laid him down on the couch.

Neil smiled drowsily at the Foxes, feeling Matt’s hand squeeze his shoulder, Allison, Dan and Renee kiss his head, Nicky hiccup when Neil squeezed his fingers, Aaron nod at him in something akin to understanding and Kevin whispering “You are such a drama queen!”

Andrew was the last one to leave. He knew Neil needed to be alone right now. So, he rubbed Neil’s ring, kissed his knuckles softly and then walked out of the office.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil is overworking, Andrew has to intervene and... did I really do that in the end?

Neil never knew what Andrew told their colleagues to explain his quick insight into Neil’s panic attack, but whatever it was, it looked like no one knew about them.... yet.

Neil didn’t know how long they could go on, keeping it a secret, and now that he was finally feeling at peace within the Foxes, their family, he felt like keeping such an important part of him hidden, like he was ashamed of it, was not only deceiving, but wrong. The way he would move away from Andrew when someone approached them or how he had to curb his enthusiasm when Andrew got a big win on a case. Or just mentioning how Andrew bought a new brand of cat food that Sir loved and King hated.

Neil knew Andrew didn’t care about people’s knowledge of their relationship, but with every day the Foxes let him know more about their own private lives, the more Neil felt like a phony. They were no longer like acquaintances, they were really friends, like Nicky had said some time ago. Neil no longer flinched from Dan messing with his hair or Matt’s hugs, he laughed when Nicky winked flirty at him, and praised Renee on her cupcakes, he let Allison put makeup on him, to hide his gruesome injuries, so he could appear on court without looking like a thug and no longer rolled his eyes at Aaron or Kevin when they tried to control the craziness of the rest of the foxes after a hard-won case. The office was feeling like home to Neil now, and he felt that uncomfortable feeling of not trusting them hard enough grow on his chest. He would have to discuss things with Andrew, know his opinion, and create a strategy to let the rest of them know, if Andrew felt comfortable with it.

However, more imperative details were ruling over his mind, like the Preliminary Hearing on Jean Moreau’s case he had been in just yesterday. Neil’s colleagues tried their best to help him, knowing how big this case really was, even Kevin had stepped forward, during one of Neil’s late nights in the office.

“Look, I still think you are too green to take on a case of this magnitude, but…” Kevin was silent for a few moments. “… if you need another witness you can call me on it. I will tell everything I know about Riko’s business and his crimes.” Kevin said, his eyes daring Neil to doubt his certainty.

“Thank you, Kevin. I will try to keep you away from all this mess, but it’s good to know you have my back.” Neil smiled appreciatively and Kevin acknowledged his words with a firm nod of his head.

Neil’s days started blurring together with his nights, especially after Riko paid his bail of 5 million dollars and the trial was finally scheduled. If it wasn’t for Andrew almost rip him away from the office and drag him home, Neil would probably spend all his time at the office, going over witnesses lists, the things Robin got him, records that Jean had of Riko’s orders, pictures of Jean’s and Jeremy’s injuries, anything that could help him paint the image of the perfect psychopath. He had everything he needed to put Riko behind bars, he just didn’t know if Riko’s power could sway the judge and the jury towards him.

 

* * *

 

 

“Eat!” Andrew’s hand appeared on Neil’s line of vision, pushing a plate with pizza slices over his notes.

Neil looked at the pizza like it was a foreign thing, never seen before, and Andrew sighed. They were currently at their living room, the cats fast asleep on the couch, and Andrew had been too, if his bed hair was any indication. Neil had no idea what time it was, but by Andrew's angry face it was probably after 4 a.m., but before 7 a.m.. Neil wondered if he should comment on the food choice, but Andrew's expression indicated he was having none of it right now.

“If you don’t eat, you are going to be sick. And if you are sick, I’m the unlucky bastard that has to feed you medicine or watch you die.” Andrew said, his hand jumping to the back of Neil’s neck.

Neil sighed and grabbed the food, his eyes still glued to his notes until Andrew took them away. Neil glared at him and Andrew showed him his middle finger.

“Very mature, Andrew.” Neil smiled and Andrew shrugged, like he couldn’t care less about that.

When Neil finally finished his food, he tried to grab the notes again, only for Andrew to move them away.

“You need to rest. You won’t be able to function if you keep going like this. The trial is in two weeks, you have plenty of time.” Andrew said, dragging Neil to sit next to him on the couch, while turning the TV on. “Be a good boy and just sit here entertaining your damn cats!”

Neil stared at Andrew, until his head fell against the blonde’s shoulder.

"The cats are asleep, and there's only stupid shows that sell useless stuff for old people, at this hour..."

"That kind of stuff happens when it's 5 a.m.." Andrew grumbled, seeing a blonde lady exemplify the use of a very complex kitchen tool. Between turning on the TV and Andrew putting it on mute, the cats appeared in the living room, probably roused by the movement and sound in the previously silent room. They sat on Neil's lap, and he started petting them unconsciously.

For a few moments the house was silent, the TV on mute, and only the purring of the cats actually echoing through the house.

“I’m afraid of failing.” Neil confessed, softly, his voice barely above a whisper. He felt Andrew tense and take a deep breath.

“Everyone will fail one day, that’s human nature. And if you think you are different, you are just deceiving yourself and everyone around you.” Andrew said, his fingers moving absently over Neil’s knees, mirroring Neil’s fingers petting the cats.

“But there is someone’s life on the line. If Riko walks free what assurance do I have that he won’t try to hurt Jean or Jeremy… or worst, you?” Neil questioned and finally looked at Andrew’s face.

“You can’t be sure of it, even if he is in prison. Unless you get someone to kill him before he can do something against them or us.” Andrew suggested and Neil bit his lower lip. He didn’t have connections in all prisons, but he knew some people from his years of student and volunteering as his teachers’ helper.

“Is it too wrong that I’m actually considering it?” Neil asked and Andrew’s lips started mouthing at his neck.

“No.” Andrew said, before his teeth started nibbling on Neil’s ears and the cats ran away because of Neil’s sudden change in position.

“Our colleagues would be so shocked at us.” Neil replied, shivering at Andrew’s tongue licking at his sensitive skin.

“Your colleagues would be shocked at you, they already think I’m a killer. And do you really want to talk about them when I’m going to fuck you?” Andrew asked and Neil moaned.

“No, not really.” Neil growled, waiting for Andrew’s permission to take his shirt off. And when he gave it, their clothes were thrown away with lightning speed and Neil forgot completely about Riko Moriyama and the case, his mind and body only filled with thoughts and feelings of _Andrew, Andrew, Andrew._

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Are you okay?” Nicky asked and Neil rubbed his temples.

“I’m fine.”

Someone behind Neil groaned and he heard Allison’s chirpy voice.

“Pay up, bitches!”

He had no idea what bet she had just won, and the killer headache pulsating behind his eyes kept him from wondering about it out loud. He had seven days until the trial, his opening statement was as good as it could ever be, all the proof he had was correctly organized and identified, every witness knew their part, and Jean had met with Neil uncountable times to rehearse how everything would go on, to make sure everything was chronologically correct, that there was no shroud of doubt that the other lawyer could shed on them.

Weirdly, the thing now worrying Neil was exactly the thing he never thought he would worry about. Earlier that day, Neil noticed his phone was missing. He had no idea if he had left it at home or if during his metro trip someone decided that they needed a new one. And for the first time, Neil found himself worried about his phone. Andrew always used it to make sure he was safe, Jean used it to make sure Neil was still going to represent him, Abby had the new and annoying habit of calling him every day to assess his wounds (that were now almost completely healed, by Neil's standards and nobody else's) and his state of health in general, Robin liked to give him good wishes every morning and the Foxes had the weird hobby of sending him funny pictures, usually with their animal namesake in various states of folly.

Neil was currently sending Jean an email, so he would know to contact him directly to the office, instead of his phone, when he felt that Nicky had something else to say beside inquiring about his well-being.

“Neil, we have a surprise for you, so don’t freak out!” Nicky squealed and Neil’s eyes rose from his desk with a turtle’s speed and glared at him.

“I hate surprises.” Neil said in a blank tone and Nicky’s eyes widened.

“Wow! You sound exactly like Andrew! Do that again!” he requested and Neil rolled his eyes at him. “Or maybe not… Anyway, just close your eyes for a minute, okay? I swear no one is going to get closer to you or touch you, alright? Renee will stand guard so Aaron won’t try and tickle you.” Nicky said, noticing Neil’s uncomfortable expression, while Aaron growled from his spot “ _As if!”_

Neil looked around at all their excited expressions, and noticed that everyone except Andrew was present. He felt uncomfortable at having all of them there, but not Andrew, and looked at Andrew’s closed door for a few moments. When he turned around again, he noticed Allison elbowing Matt and smiling slyly, while Dan shook her head in disbelief at her expression.

Taking a deep breath, Neil closed his eyes. Immediately every sound at the office was amplified. He could hear rustling and footsteps, he could hear Andrew’s door opening and closing, he could hear Kevin whispering to someone, and more than anything, he could hear everyone smiling, like their facial expressions could suddenly make some kind of noise, like happiness had a sound of their own. Neil had no idea before, but he liked it. He liked that he felt at ease letting his guard down, knowing that his friends would respect his boundaries, knowing that they knew he didn’t like to feel threatened and that Nicky made sure to calm him down with that knowledge. And more than all, he liked to know that Andrew was currently standing with the rest of the team, his perfume, Neil’s gift from last Christmas, clear in Neil’s nostrils.

“Okay, you can open them!” Nicky said, happily, clapping his hands like he was presenting a magic trick.

When Neil opened his eyes he was confused. There was a big cake in front of him with a cartoonish version of someone, that Neil recognized as Riko, being punched by someone resembling Neil himself. Neil wasn’t sure what was the appropriate response, but he felt his lips move from their accord into a mocking smile.

“It looks pretty good.” He said and noticed his colleagues sigh in relieve at his reaction.

“Told you the idiot would like the joke.” Andrew said and Nicky scoffed at him.

“Sorry if I can’t be sure when you are serious or when you are being ironic, you sound the same!” Nicky pouted at Andrew and his cousin rolled his eyes.

“But what is the occasion?” Neil asked and he heard groans all around the room.

“Told you so…” Neil heard Aaron comment, but decided to ignore him for now.

“It’s your birthday cake!” Dan stated, her hands waving around the cake. _Seriously, what was it with his friends and looking like they were doing magic tricks?_ “We know it’s a bit late, but we kind of promised, so…”

“And we have pizza!” Matt announced, like some kind of host.

“That’s so not healthy!” Kevin groaned and Allison shushed him.

“And sushi for the health junkies.” Andrew said, breaking the spell of overexcited presentations with his monotone voice.

In minutes, Neil saw their desks being moved together, papers sending flying and an array of food brought together with steady hands. When Renee turned down the lights, the orange light of the sunset creating a nice hue, Neil realized they were actually going to sing him Happy Birthday and flushed red. It was the weirdest singalong Neil ever heard. Nicky sang in German and Kevin in French, Matt was laughing while singing, Dan was whooping, Allison joined “sexy boy” by the end of every sentence, Renee and Aaron were actually singing what was supposed to be the correct tone and Andrew was giving it all a funeral humming. When they ended, at different times, Neil was speechless. It had been a long time since he felt like hugging someone beside Andrew, but right now, Neil felt the sudden need to show his appreciation in some kind of way, even clapping Aaron and Kevin on the shoulder to the first's chagrin and the second's surprise. When he approached Andrew, Neil felt like everyone froze, fearing the blonde’s reaction at Neil’s sudden hugging-fest. But Andrew accepted his embrace, after Neil asked him if it was okay to hug him and he said yes, and it was like everyone took a collective breath. Once again, Neil noticed Allison’s cheer and wondered if she had a bet on them right from the start. Somehow he found out he couldn’t be bothered by that.

Behind the group, the elevators door opened and Neil heard footsteps. He was ready to turn around and smile at Wymack and Abby, since he was sure the newcomers could only be the couple, when he heard a voice that made him freeze.

“ _What a happy occasion! And here I was thinking your birthday was in January, Junior_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soooo sorry! Don't kill me, please! I still have the rest of the story to upload!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pain and sadness...

Neil turned around and stood face to face with Lola and Romero Malcolm, siblings and partners in crime, members of the inner circle of his father crime ring. And supposedly to be in prison just like Nathan Wesninski.

It was like a heavy weight was dropped on his stomach, the air ripped out of his lungs and lead running through his veins. It was his second worst nightmare, only defeated by the shadow of the man itself.

Lola and Romero looked exactly like the day, more than six years ago, when he had seen them last, being taken away to a maximum security prison.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Andrew asked, and Neil saw, on his periphery, the way the blonde moved his hands, like he hoped to find the knives that he had shed years ago, hidden inside his bands.

“Oh, I remember you!” Lola said suddenly, giddily pointing a finger in Andrew’s direction. And while she did it, her other hand took a gun with a silencer from the back of her pants, her gesture mirrored by her brother. “I prefer knives, but, oh well...” she nodded her head at the gun and smiled at Neil.

Behind Neil, as soon as the guns appeared, he felt a change in the atmosphere. He could feel Renee moving in front of the rest of their friends, synchronized with Andrew that moved closer to Neil.

“Tsk, tsk!” Lola said. “I see you, Andy, don’t try to step closer to Junior.” Lola moved her gun towards Andrew, while Romero kept his pointed at Neil.

“Don’t hurt him!” Neil begged, stepping forward.

“Don’t!” Andrew ordered and Neil looked at him, sadly. “Don’t you dare!”

Neil stepped forward once more, and Andrew growled under his breath, grabbing his arm and making him stop.

“Now, I’m being very nice, but don’t play with me!” Lola stated and the previous maniac smile she wore was replaced by a cruel one. “You don’t want a replay of dear old Drake starring Junior, right? We know a lot of unsavory people that would love to have him before his death.”

Neil felt the moment Andrew stopped thinking, the moment his fingers released Neil’s arm, the moment Andrew sent self-preservation flying through the window.

Andrew Minyard was not someone to avenge the wrong done to him, he wouldn’t kill to protect himself, his own life was less important to him than any of the people he promised to protect, but Neil was not Andrew, Neil was a stupid of a martyr that Andrew learned to care about and was unable to live without for the last few years, he was the person he liked to wake up to and the person he liked to tease, to kiss, to hug, to talk to when he so felt inclined, to see smoke, with the ringlets of smoke around his auburn hair, and to hear someone not only using Drake’s name in the same sentence as Neil’s, but threatening to make Neil suffer the same kind of fate Andrew had to go through, completely erased any kind of rational thinking.

Neil screamed Andrew’s name, and tried to stop him, but the blonde was stronger than him, and fueled by rage his strength was almost inhuman. Neil heard the popping sound, weirdly muffled, and that was when he remembered noticing the silencer attached to the gun.

Neil saw Andrew fall to his knees with a grumble of pain and if it wasn’t for another scream behind him and another popping sound, he would have been next to Andrew in a millisecond. But he took a bit more time, looking over his shoulder to see Renee draped over Aaron. The twin looked like he had tried to run to Andrew as soon as he was shot, but Renee had stopped him in time, ending up with her own upper arm wounded, her blouse quickly changing from pearly white to bloody red.

“Andrew!” Aaron yelled again, but Renee was stronger than him, and using that scrimmage as a distraction, Neil kneeled next to Andrew.

“Are you okay? Is Aaron okay?” Andrew asked and Neil nodded at both questions, his adrenaline spiking like he hadn’t felt in many years, at least due to fear.

Andrew was bleeding from his leg, not too profusely, but still quick enough that Neil took the belt from his pants and squeezed it around Andrew’s leg. Andrew was growling softly in pain and when Neil buckled the belt his already pale face turned ghostly white.

“Enough!” Romero finally spoke, bellowing over the screams of everyone behind Neil.

Neil couldn’t understand what everyone had been saying, but he supposed it was a mixture of outrage and fear.

“Or do you want us to start a game of Russian roulette? Junior here isn’t very fond of it, right? What was it the last time? A shoulder? Or your hip?” Lola smiled at them, noticing the way the Foxes tried to reign themselves in, before anyone else got injured.

“I will go with you, just don’t hurt anyone else, please?” the word felt like acid on Neil’s tongue, but if begging would do them some good, he would crawl and lick Lola’s shoes to keep her from injuring any of his friends, especially Andrew.

Andrew moved restlessly against Neil. The blood loss was making him sluggish, but his hand was still strong enough to hold Neil in place.

“I promised.” Andrew tried to say.

“And I made you give up that promise, remember? We would protect each other without any kind of agreement, but just because we wanted to.” Neil replied, feeling Lola’s impatience seeping from her every pore. “And I’m protecting you right now.”

“I promise…” Andrew tried to say and Neil shook his head, but the blonde was having none of that. “I promise that I will find you…” he looked at Lola. “… and you…” he looked at Romero. “… and that motherfucker boss of yours and kill you all!”

Lola laughed coldly at that.

“A man that couldn’t even protect himself from his fosters families’ use of his body is saying he will take on us?” Lola laughed again and moved her gun closer to Andrew’s body. “Pity you will die here.”

“Stop! I will go! Just give me one more second!” Neil yelled, his voice bordering of hysterical.

Neil looked down at Andrew’s bloody leg, and he saw that his belt was doing its work slowing down the hemorrhage, but either way, Andrew would need medical attention quickly and the sooner Neil left with the Malcolm siblings, the faster the Foxes could ask for help. Neil fought with his ring finger and dropped his ring on Andrew’s numb hand. He was close to passing out, and Neil was counting on it to escape his furious glare.

“Take care of this for me, okay?” Neil asked and he saw Andrew’s mouth open in an angry retort before his head lolled to the side and he finally lost his conscience. “Thank you. You are amazing.” Neil whispered, hoping no one else could discern his words. Even if Andrew couldn’t hear them, Neil hoped his subconscious knew them to be true.

Neil rose from the floor, his head held high, and marched towards the siblings.

“Welcome back, Nathaniel.” Lola whispered and Neil glared at her.

“Nathaniel died a long time ago.” Neil replied and the woman smirked at him.

“We will see. When you start screaming for mercy and begging for death, Nathaniel will come back.” Lola stated, and pushing the gun against Neil’s chest, punched him in the face, making him step back a couple of steps.

Behind Neil, the Foxes started growling threats, but Romero moved the gun over them, in a silent threat. A threat that he would be all too happy to see through.

“Oh, this felt good.” Lola said, and kicked Neil's legs, making him fall to the ground, where she stepped on his fingers until she heard two of them crack. “Get up, fucking useless brat. Let’s go see daddy dearest, he is dying to see you. Or should I say he is going to see you dying.” Lola clacked at her own jest and pulled Neil by his hair.

Neil looked up over his shoulder, one last time, trying to commit everything to memory. Andrew’s blond hair and the way he looked like he was sleeping, Nicky’s dark skin, Dan’s strong hands, Matt’s large shoulders, Allison’s heels, Renee’s cross, Kevin’s green eyes, Aaron’s thin mouth, the food still resting over their desks, now cold, probably uneaten until someone put it on the trash can.

Neil closed his eyes for a second, before Romero pushed him to the emergency stairs. Neil didn’t understand why they would go through the stairs, instead of the elevator, but when Romero destroyed the lock, Neil wondered if they had done something to keep the elevators from working as well. A sudden fear enveloped him, what if no one could reach his friends? What if Andrew bled to death after he saw Neil leave him behind? What if Renee’s injury was not only a scratch as he thought so, but something more dangerous? What if the man he loved more than life itself and the woman that tried so hard to be a good person died and it was all his fault? Neil felt his lungs freeze and almost fell down the stairs. He could hear Lola pushing him from behind and Romero pulling him, his feet barely touching the ground.

“Don’t try to stall us, you little bitch!” Romero spat, and Neil actually felt his feet leaving the ground when the bigger man pulled him and moved away so Neil could fall down the stairs. For a crazy moment, while the steps punched into his body, Neil wondered if he kept the momentum maybe he could reach the door before the siblings and try to escape that way. But probably sensing the plan forming in his mind, Lola descended over him when the stairs ended like a bat from hell and kicked him in the stomach. Doubling over in pain, Neil’s eyes moved up to see her aiming her gun at his forehead. Behind Lola, Romero was opening the stairs exit door to another open door, this one belonging to a black car parked on the alley behind the building.

They made him sit on the front seat, and Lola quickly handcuffed him, his hands locked behind the seat and in clear reach of anyone sitting behind him. Neil tried to shake them, but that only got him a cold laugh from Lola, sitting behind him, and Romero, driving the car. Neil’s only hope was that some police officer might notice something was wrong or just trying to do a regular verification notice that there was a man clearly being kidnapped by those two. Unfortunately, Neil knew, by his close proximity with Andrew for the last few years, that this kind of car wasn’t easily stopped by the police, reeking of big money from its painting to its wheels. And the approaching darkness of the night did nothing for anyone else noticing him screaming for help.

Neil deflated, knowing only a miracle could save him, and that was when hell truly began.

Lola, using the way Neil was sitting and how he couldn’t defend himself, made him truly know the meaning of pain. It had been years since Neil felt that amount of pain, not even Riko’s beating could come close to it, when the car’s dashboard lighter started wondering over his arms’ skin.

“Your skin is so soft in here, Junior.” Lola crooned, her nail scratching Neil’s inner arm. He shivered at the touch of her, and tried to remember every time Andrew kissed him in there when he felt the burning sensation. For a few moments the memories of Andrew’s lips and his whispered words were enough to keep his mind away from the majority of the pain, but then a new feeling joined the burning flesh. The blade of the knife was cold against the burned skin, and its feeling against his skin wasn’t anything new, however, the place where it rested wasn’t the usual one."

While Neil lived with his father in Baltimore, Nathan and Lola and a few others hurt him with knives in many places, however his wrists were always off limits, maybe because they were easily exposed if someone just tried to grab little Nathaniel’s arm in school, or maybe because they weren’t sure they could keep themselves from cutting too deep and ending it before their enjoyment was through. But right now, Lola was dancing with the knife right over Neil’s wrists and he felt a sudden fear in his body, a fear that had nothing to do with his current predicament, because as soon as his memories of Andrew’s lips disappeared from his memory, other ones replaced them, of the same man. Memories that he couldn't have, because he hadn’t met Andrew at the time, but that haunted him anyway since the first time he saw Andrew’s scars.

For the first time, Neil let himself imagine what would happen to Andrew if he died at his father’s hands. Until then Neil was only worried about keeping Andrew safe, but now, that he knew he wouldn’t walk away from this alive, he let his mind wonder into more dangerous territories. Andrew’s scars were his way of keeping control of a small part of his body, when the people that should have protected it used his body to their own pleasure. But he knew Andrew saw his own safety and health as a second grade thing, something that he didn’t really care about. Something that came as a consequence of keeping someone else alive and protected and happy.

Neil didn’t think that Andrew was only alive for other people, he knew Andrew was strong for himself, that he was the strongest person Neil had ever met, but he feared the Andrew that would go to the end of the world to protect someone, or even to get revenge on someone that might have hurt the people he cared about. Andrew told him over and over how he didn’t believe in regret and revenge, but he remembered clearly every promise Andrew ever did him, and he could remember the way he growled at the office that he would find Lola and Romero and Nathan and end them. He could still remember Andrew’s story of how he ended up with court-mandated drugs, of how he ended up living with only his brother and cousin, of how over and over he put others in front of his own well-being.

Could Andrew move on from this? Neil knew he was always joking about hating him and about their relationship being nothing, but Neil knew, there was no need for words, that all those words were just that, a joke. That their relationship was everything, that they built a home on each other, that they healed each other, trusted each other, protected each other’s secrets. Neil felt his stomach drop, imagining Andrew alone in their home, the cats meowing for his attention, the bed cold, the couch empty, the smoke of cigarettes… Neil could only hope, as he felt the blood running from his wrists that the rest of the Foxes could help Andrew somehow, that Wymack and Abby, knowing what Andrew and Neil had, could support him until he was good enough to go on, that Robin and Betsy could pave the road for him to continue with his life. That they could stop him from entering a road of no return. Andrew trying to take down Nathan Wesninski was Neil’s worst nightmare, more painful than imagining facing the man himself.

Neil hoped and hoped and hoped, until the burns and the cuts started to mess with his mind, until the moment the image of Andrew was too painful, that the laugh of his friends stopped echoing in his mind, until the moment Neil Josten closed his eyes.

And Nathaniel Wesninski opened them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't leave you hanging for long, and then I update something like this... Sorry! I love you all very much, I swear!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hum... yeah, not much to say, really...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I took this long to update, but I went back to work this week after some days off, and it was crazy in my hospital, good lord, so it took a bit longer than usual! But don't worry, now everything is settled!

Nathaniel didn’t know where they were taking him. Probably some hideout where his father was keeping a low profile from the police searching for him. Because the only possibility for Lola and Romero to be free was for them to have escaped prison, and if they did it, it was sure as hell that his father did the same thing. Now, Nathaniel couldn’t stop wondering how they did that and why the FBI didn’t warn him. Was his phone missing more than a simple theft on the metro or him forgetting it at home?

These were the thoughts that his pain-ruled mind was able of bringing up, between fits of unconsciousness and screams of pain. However, no matter how many screams, cuts, pains, they brought out of him, as long as Andrew and the Foxes were safe it would be worth it. Nathaniel, always colder and more ruthless than Neil, was able of keeping any worrying thought about their health away from his mind.

Lola had used the dashboard lighter and the knife over and over, cutting Nathaniel’s hands open and burning them. She had used the flame to cauterize some of his wounds, but the ones in his wrists still seeped blood and it made his stomach roll.

After what felt like hours, even if Nathaniel knew it would be impossible, the car finally stopped next to an abandoned warehouse. Nathaniel rose his head slowly, dark spots appearing on his vision and the objects looking increasingly blurry.

“Welcome to your resting place, Junior.” Lola whispered next to his ear and Nathaniel recoiled from her hot breath. She slapped him on the face and grabbed his chin. “Baby boy, you are going to wish you never testified against Nathan.” Lola released his face, leaving imprints of her fingernails on his skin.

“Oh, don’t worry about your boy and the other beasts. Your friend Riko actually got them a little surprise…”

Nathaniel gasped. That’s why Lola and Romero didn’t kill Andrew and the Foxes, when they had the chance, Riko had plans waiting for them. The only thing Nathaniel could hope for was that they were able to call the security guard or the police, before Riko’s guys arrived at the office. Nathaniel hoped once again, when he should have learned to discard such emotion,  and once again, Neil Josten was much closer to the surface than Nathaniel thought possible. And then he closed his mind to any kind of emotional bond and ignored the memories trying to jump at him.

Lola and Romero manhandled Nathaniel, almost dragging him between them. Nathaniel felt his head light, he could still feel the blood running from his wrists and he wondered if the cuts were deep enough to kill him from blood loss. He decided that it would probably be a better death than the one waiting for him inside that warehouse. Or thinking what could be happening to Andrew right now… or the Foxes…

Lola opened the door and made Nathaniel step through the threshold, his eyes trying to get used to the darkness inside. He could spot shapes that looked like boxes and some kind of machinery, but everything had the look of abandonment that only forsaken places could develop. Lola and Romero dropped him on the floor and Nathaniel tried to take a deep breath, his arms were burning up, he had problems breathing from probable broken ribs (again) and his face was pulsing with the punches he took.

For a short moment, Nathaniel hoped that somehow Nathan wasn’t there. That he got caught before he could end Nathaniel’s life, that he had a car accident, anything that would prevent him from reaching this place. However, when he saw movement and the sound of a heavy blade touching the metal walls, rasping and scratching like a beast encroaching around its prey, Nathaniel hated himself for that small flicker of hope.

The monster was here and he was ready to hunt.

The dangling lights overhead flicked to life, dirty with dust and webs, giving a pale, small light.

When Nathan moved slowly from the shadows, Nathaniel felt like he was a child again. The face of his father was older, more wrinkles shadowing his expression, but everything in his countenance made Nathaniel recoil. The hands that used to hold knives and hurt him, the eyes just like his own that always looked down at him with contempt, the cruel motion of his lips, sneering, and his flaming hair, now specked with grey, that always shone brighter against all the blood that the Butcher of Baltimore could steal from his victims.

“On your feet! You know better than to sit on my presence!” the whip of that voice cracked on Nathaniel’s mind like he was a pet on a circus and even if his more stubborn side, a small voice whispering _Don’t! Stay put!_ , tried to make him rebel, his muscle memory was stronger and he was already getting up.

“Hello, Junior.” Nathan’s voice was like a serpent right before she strikes and bite some innocent soul, and Nathaniel felt his stomach drop. That was it, no more days in front of him to leisure about, to laugh at someone’s joke or to touch blonde hair, to look into hazel eyes…

 _Stop it!_ Nathaniel screamed inside his mind, and he tried to keep his face as neutral as possible, even if his hands were shacking. His eyes moved down, to his father’s hands and he noticed that they were empty. Then who was carrying the heavy blade he heard? Was another person beside Nathan, Lola and Romero, lurking in the shadows? Nathaniel felt his lungs freeze when he noticed another shadow moving behind his father, and Nathan’s right-hand man walked forward, a rusty ax and a cleaver among his gigantic fingers. Patrick DiMaccio never touched Nathaniel as a child, but nevertheless, he was always hovering on the background, his blood-lust eyes and hands figuring in Nathaniel’s childhood nightmares more than once. He was the only from his father’s circle that escaped the FBI. Somehow they didn’t get evidences of his involvement with all those crimes, not even with Nathaniel's testimony.

Nathaniel was looking at DiMaccio when his father spoke again.

“You pay attention when I talk to you.” He stated, and even knowing it would come, Nathaniel felt a groan fall from his lips and his knees buckle when the heavy fist of his father connected with his broken ribs. That same hand grabbed his neck and squeezed it, and Nathaniel felt like his head was going to implode.

“You put me in prison. You left me there to rot and babbled all you knew to the FBI. You are only alive because you were smart enough to keep quiet about the rest of my business associates.” Nathan said, his fingers still squeezing.

In his muddled mind, Nathaniel wondered if by business associates his father was talking about the Moriyama family, since they were the only ones that Nathaniel knew about. And if somehow they had kept tabs on him for all these years. Maybe that was how Riko found him so quickly. And maybe his silence from seven years ago when concerning that particular family ended up giving him a longer life. Nathaniel wondered if his uncle had made some kind of deal with the family to keep him from being killed, maybe Nathaniel’s silence was the bargaining chip, or maybe that with something else from his uncle’s side gave him the last few years of his life. Nathaniel was sad to see his uncle’s efforts going to waste like this.

Nathan finally let Nathaniel fall to the ground, the younger man ending up in a heap of clothes and bruised flesh.

“It’s a pity your dear mother didn’t last longer. I would have loved for her to watch you die. But, hence, it wasn’t to go that way. But now, my dear son, you will know what we do to traitors in this family.” Nathan said and Nathaniel felt something rise in front of him, something that he should quiet down, something that sounded like another auburn-haired man’s voice, a man that had two cats, that had a family, made by choice and not blood, that trusted people and laughed with them. A man that didn’t take a beating standing down.

“This is not a family, this a study case of psychos!” Nathaniel, or Neil, he couldn’t really be sure, said, and Nathan’s eyes looked like they were aflame.

Nathan motioned at Lola and she smiled at him, throwing him a knife.

“All these years trying to find the perfect, most hurting way to end you, to make you scream and cry and beg. I might skin you and let you to beg for mercy while the blood oozes from you,” and Nathan made a small cut right under Nathaniel’s right eye. “I might cut you piece by little piece, taking day after day, until you can no longer say anything…” Nathan let the knife fall against his son’s neck and a small trickle of blood started running. “… or I might just bring a pack of ravaged dogs, and let them have a take on you…” Nathan cut over the cuts on Nathaniel’s palms. “… or rats, since you have such in common with them. But I will start by your legs. We don’t want you running around like before, right, boy?”

Nathan’s hand moved again and again over Nathaniel’s cheek and he could feel the blood oozing from his face.

“I will go with the ax, I think. All that rust, it’s probably blunt by now. More suffering, I guess.” And Nathan turned around to stretch his arm towards DiMaccio.

Nathaniel used that distraction to try and escape, but Lola was already there, and her fist against his cheek almost made him fall, but Nathaniel was able of evading it partially, and running forward he tackled her, even when she tried to pull her gun from her pants. He heard her skull beat against the floor, and his ears rang when a shot echoed right next to his head. The shot of adrenaline brought by that sound made him move quicker than he had memory of doing. He was almost to the exit when an enormous hand pushed him forward and he skidded to the ground. His burns and cuts screamed in pain and Nathaniel felt his tears mix with blood. He rolled on the ground and moved at the sound of a blade moving through the air. He heard the impact of the blade on the ground and scrambled away, trying to create the most distance that he could between him and the monsters chasing him.

But then a wall was there, and Nathaniel was trapped. Nathan hovered over him, until he sat on his knees, his weight crushing Nathaniel’s legs against the floor. The ax rested against Nathaniel’s neck and the previous cut was bigger now with the added blade.

“Lola, you can either cut or shot his tendons, your choice.” Nathan said and Lola appeared behind him, a trickle of blood on her hairline probably from her fall brought by Nathaniel. In one hand she had her gun and on the other the knife Nathan had used on Nathaniel.

“What to choose?” she asked herself with a singsong voice and Nathaniel felt bile rise to his throat.

Lola was ready to crouch behind Nathan when the warehouse door opened and Romero appeared.

“There’s something wrong!” he announced, before sound from outside made Nathan and Lola jump to their feet. There were cars stopping, people moving, and Nathan and his circle pulled out their guns.

“They won’t take me back.” Nathan said, and started shooting through the small windows.

Seeing this distraction as an opportunity, Nathaniel tried to run to the opposite direction. And he would have done it if a sudden blaring pain on his back didn’t make him fall again. It was burning on his back and he could feel the blood oozing from the bullet wound. He tried to move his head, to see who had shot him, but Lola’s voice next to his ear clarified that for him.

“We might die in here, but you will go with us to hell!”

And she would have shot him again if a bullet from outside didn’t pierce her head, making her fall next to Nathaniel.

The next couple of minutes were a mess of screams and yells, people running inside the warehouse while Nathaniel tried to hold on to his conscience. He knew the wound was bad, he could feel by the amount of blood that whatever Lola injured was vital. He tried to breath and a bubble of blood appeared on the corner of his mouth.

 _Shit!_ He thought. _Andrew would kill him for this_. The irony of that thought almost made him laugh, if he wasn’t so tired. He could hear steps next to his head.

“Fuck! It’s Nathaniel!” a familiar voice spoke next to his ear and he felt someone touching his body.

“I don’t think he is going to make it.” Another voice said, a bit farther away.

“Don’t say that!” the first voice yelled. “Get a fucking ambulance!”

Nathaniel tried to stay awake, he really tried, but it was getting too hard and the darkness’s pull was feeling more and more inviting. He cursed his weak human body, the way it was succumbing to death. But there was nothing he could do now. Nathaniel Wesninski was really dying for real now.

And then he stopped breathing.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the drama, the angst and some kind of fluff...

Andrew was grumbling, under his breath, at the doctor trying to take a look at his leg. He had woken up just thirty minutes ago to find his leg operated and a doctor perusing around his stitches. His first reaction had been to punch the doctor away when he felt the man's fingers on his leg, but he was too drowsy to actually do something more than panic in silence. At seeing Abby in the room as well, her watchful eyes making sure the doctor didn't cross any line, Andrew sighed and felt himself relax for a second, until his mind came roaring back about the reason behind his presence in the hospital. He tried to ask Abby if she knew anything, but she had left when the doctor stopped touching him and just tried to pray information from Andrew about his level of pain. 

He was still too oozy from the anesthesia or the blood loss, he couldn’t be sure, to escape the hospital, but he was biding his time and as soon as the doctor turned his back on him, Andrew would be out of there and calling a taxi or a Uber, what the fuck would be faster, to take him to the office. He needed to know what happened, he needed to hear the shitty excuses the FBI was going to give him before he killed the agents responsible for all this mess, but most of all, he needed to be at the place where Neil had left him, because when Neil came back to the office, as the work junkie he was, Andrew had to be there to punch him in the face. He had to be there to face this broken mess of a man and crush him against his body, let his hands roam around his skin in search of injuries and then start healing him.

It took Andrew exactly five minutes, after the doctor left, for him to hop around the corridor, steal a couple of crutches from a nearby room and start wobbling away, towards the emergency room exit. Andrew noticed through the windows that a pink light was slowly appearing on the horizon, signaling the dawn approaching. His stomach rolled, knowing that a full night had gone away and with it Neil.

Andrew kept going and he could already see the road outside, when a voice boomed behind him.

“What the fuck are you doing, Minyard?” Wymack's voice couldn’t be mistaken as someone else’s and that was the only reason that the man put his hand over Andrew’s shoulder without losing a finger. “Where are you going?”

Andrew let his boss stop him, but it was with his blankest stare that he regarded him.

“Where are you going?” Wymack asked again and Andrew wondered if he was being obtuse to grate on his nerves.

“Fairy tale land.” Andrew replied obnoxiously and Wymack huffed. “Now you do look like the big bad wolf.”

“Stop playing!” Wymack yelled. “Neil was taken! You can’t continue acting like that! You will go mad!”

“I’m already mad, didn’t you know, boss?” Andrew smirked at Wymack, but it felt empty of his usual fire to create havoc.

“Neil is not there.” Wymack said, guessing the direction of Andrew's mind, and Andrew shook his head.

“Of course not. He decided to go with the people that hurt him for years, that hunted him like a rabbit, that made him afraid of closing his eyes and dreaming.” Andrew replied and Wymack sighed.

“He didn’t choose. They told me everything that happened. It was as farthest from Neil’s choice as anything could be.” Wymack replied and Andrew rubbed his temples. “He did it to save you!”

“And if it wasn’t that FBI unit appearing right then, those guys that were sent by Nathan or Riko or the fuck else would have ended us.” Andrew replied.

Andrew could remember flashes of a group of men entering through the elevator (it had been off just a few moments ago, he recalled Renee saying it, when he regained conscience momentarily), and the guns they had with them. And they would have fired those guns, if right behind, an even more armed group didn’t appear, brandishing FBI’s badges and yelling at everyone to lay down. That was the last thing that Andrew actually remembered. He didn’t know to whom the first group belonged yet, but he was sure that Lola and Romero only left them alive because they knew that their partners were coming up right after them.

 _Thought luck_ , Andrew thought, grimacing at the pulsing behind his eyes.

Andrew’s head hurt with every beating of his heart and Wymack’s expression of pity and worry only made it more frustrating. Wymack didn’t understand. Neil choose this, he choose to put Andrew’s life in front of his, he choose to let himself be taken from Andrew’s range, he choose to make Andrew feel like this.

_Lost, lost, lost…_

Andrew hated Neil.

Andrew hated himself.

Andrew didn’t hate Neil at all.

And now, maybe he could never say those deceiving words to Neil’s face ever again.

He should have known. A pipe dream like Neil Josten couldn’t be forever. Andrew would have to wake up eventually. And now here it was, the cruel reality. Andrew should have known better. Andrew should have kept his heart hidden away. Andrew shouldn’t have opened that door when Neil Josten came knocking.

“Here.” A voice said from behind Wymack and Andrew sensed the movement before his mind could fully comprehend it, his arm acting on reflex and moving to grab whatever his brother just sent his way. “He gave it to you to keep, and I kept it for you.”

Andrew looked down at his hand and saw the band he gave to Neil, on his birthday.

“You shouldn’t be on your feet. You got shot.” Aaron stated like he was talking about the weather, but everyone could see the way his feet were ready to move towards his brother. The rest of the Foxes were looking at Andrew like they agreed with Aaron, and Andrew couldn’t stop himself from wondering what the hell all of them were doing here and just how much of his conversation with Wymack they just heard.

“Are you a doctor as well? Did your wife teach you?” Andrew replied and, behind Aaron, Nicky sighed.

“We are worried about you! Neil is gone and you are acting like you couldn’t care less.” Nicky said and Andrew felt an old rage rise inside of him. It had been a long time since he felt like that and when he stepped forward towards Nicky he wasn’t sure what he would have done if Renee’s hand didn’t touch his arm. Nicky stepped back, real fear showing on his face. And somehow Andrew felt worst. It had been a long time since he felt like that. Neil’s absence was messing with his emotions and he didn’t like that at all. He wasn’t this emotional person, he buried all that a long time ago, just like his dreams of a fair world, just like his illusions as a seven year old boy.

Andrew had to move away from the foxes, that were crowding him now, before he showed them just how messed up he was by Neil being missing. He didn’t care about the pain on his leg and he didn’t care about Renee’s own injury when he shouldered her away and moved towards the exit.

“Andrew!” Abby called him, but he ignored her. “Call Betsy, at least!”

Oh, he would do it. He had to, if he wanted to work around the furious beating of his heart. Of this emotion he had forgotten about. Andrew touched his neck and felt the pulse of panic on his veins.

Andrew was ready to leave the hospital when two suited men walked in through the emergency doors. They weren’t expecting to find Andrew like that, it was clear by their frozen expression, but nevertheless, they changed their route and moved towards Andrew.

“Mr. Minyard.” one of the man said.

“Browning, you fucker!” Andrew replied, his voice so low none of his colleagues heard him, but it was clear by his stance that he was ready to punch any of these two men. Probably trying to keep him from killing someone, Aaron, Nicky and Kevin moved as one, but Andrew shook his head at them and sent them away with a shooing motion of his hand.

“What are your last words?” Andrew asked, and felt Wymack move closer to him. This time he didn’t try to send the man away, he knew that depending on the next words falling from Browning’s mouth, the older man could be right next to him trying to avenge Neil.

“We found him.” Browning said and Andrew froze. Those words didn’t meant anything, finding someone doesn’t tell you the kind of shape he was in. “He is still alive.”

_Still._

_Still alive._

_Still._

Andrew roared and his arm moved on its own accord, his crutches falling to the ground. He would have punched the FBI agent with all his might if a bigger man didn’t grab his arm. Feeling someone else’s hand on him, made Andrew turn around, ready to bite and punch his way out. Only Abby’s warning voice told Andrew that the man holding him wasn’t trying to take advantage of him. Wymack was protecting him, since the two agents were pulling out their guns. Luckily, the big team of lawyers kept the guns hidden away from the rest of the people in the emergency room. But still, keeping the confrontation public could be too dangerous.

Abby gave Andrew his crutches back and he refused to show any kind of appreciation. Clearly, she was expecting him to be at his worst behavior and kept her admonishing words away.

“We can take you to him, if you behave accordingly.” The second agent stated and Andrew wanted to punch them so much.

“According to what?”

“Mr. Minyard, I won’t have to remind you that from the moment Mr. Josten choose to leave our protection we take no responsibility of what happens to him. We are acting on good faith, taking in consideration the help he gave us in certain cases.” Andrew knew Neil helped the FBI solving some cases related to his father’s business.

Behind Andrew he could hear the Foxes buzzing at the drop of Neil’s name, sounding like angry bees. Andrew knew that only Wymack and Abby’s presence were keeping them from crowding the agents, that and the full emergency room that was already peeking at the weird group.

“But that good faith didn’t work to warn him about the escape?” Andrew asked and he saw the men grind their teeth. It was clear that the FBI had to know about it as soon as it happened, then why didn’t they send a squad to take Neil away as soon as Nathan ran away? Why didn’t they try to warn them in some other way? Why did they let a bunch of psychos take Neil away when he had already given them so much?

“Mr. Josten was unreachable the entire day. His phone was actually found next to a dumpster close to the subway, just before we came here.”

“Funny how things happen, don’t you think? Our office has a phone line too, did you know? It’s in the yellow pages. And I have this very interesting thing called a cellphone.” Andrew replied. There was a distinct theory birthing in the back of his mind and with every second, Andrew was considering it more and more credible. “You didn’t really tried to warn him, right? Even if he had his phone with him you wouldn’t have called him. You were using him as bait, didn’t you? Did you keep the office under surveillance and then followed him while he was being beaten?” Andrew’s voice was the most detached the agents ever heard, but they still stepped back, like the dark aura emanating from Andrew was enough to kill them. “Answer me, or the only way you are going to leave this place is in a body bag.”

The two agents looked at each other, and then at the foxes that were clearly trying to eavesdrop. Dropping his voice the second agent started talking.

“No, we didn’t have your office under surveillance. And we weren’t the ones that found Josten. That’s all we can tell you in here. If you want to know more you have to come with us to a safe place. There are way too many witness of this whole mess.”

“Them? Don’t worry, they won’t breathe a word before they see Neil.” Andrew replied, and for the first time Neil’s words about Andrew actually recognizing some kind of merit in the rest of the team someday echoed ominously in his mind.

“Look, do you want to see him or not?” Browning dropped all pretenses of formality and Andrew growled.

“Take me to him.” He ordered and without saying another word to each other, the three of them moved away, leaving behind a flabbergasted group of people. The only ones that didn’t look completely lost were Wymack and Abby, and even they looked taken away.

“Seriously, am I the only one tired of people pulling guns at us?” Dan finally asked.

“Seriously, am I the only one noticing that whatever they were talking about means Andrew and Neil have more secrets than I have diamonds?” Allison asked and everyone looked at her.

“Seriously, am I the only confused why they took Andrew with them?” Nicky asked and everyone turned at him, confused by his confusion.

“What?” Nicky asked and everyone shook their heads. Even Aaron looked pitying at his cousin.

“Could you hear all they were saying? I only heard bits.” Matt said and Nicky sighed.

“They said Neil’s name a few times, that has to mean something!” and then Nicky faced-palm himself and started moving away. “We have to run after them!”

And he would have done that same thing if Kevin didn’t grab his collar and reared him in.

“That’s the FBI, you moron. If you go running after them, screaming like a madman, they will shoot you!” Kevin warned and Nicky deflated.

“I just wanted to know if Neil was safe…” Nicky sighed. And everyone looked at the others, a bit lost. Not even Allison felt like bringing up the bets she probably just won in the last couple of minutes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Andrew was closing the door of the black car, when Browning’s phone started ringing. He noticed the man’s expression changing from angry, possibly at the interruption or even Andrew, to worry.

“Flat-lined?” Andrew heard him say and his heart felt like it had stopped beating as well.

_No, no, no, no!_

_Lost, lost, lost!_

There was only one person that could have brought that kind of expression into the agent’s face and Andrew was ready to jump outside, no care about his injured leg, and kill the man right there, when the agent sighed. “God, don’t start a conversation like that! The fuck were you thinking? So is he stable now? Fine, fucking asshole!” and he hanged up on the other person with another curse. He looked at Andrew with angry lines marring his face. “You and your little prince charming are going to be the death of me! He is stable, by the way, don’t go all psycho on me.”

Andrew deflated and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was considering pulling a lawsuit against the FBI for psychological scarring, and started delineating the whole process while they drove away. He was already reaching his final speech, with the references clearly noted, when the car stopped moving in front of another hospital, two towns over.

Andrew left the car even before the agents opened their doors, his feet moving quicker than they ever had done before, even with a bullet wound still healing on his tight, his stolen crutches clacking on the hospital floor. However, at the refusal of the nurse, at the front desk, in telling him about Neil’s room, he was obliged to look at the agents with a mix of loathing and fury. He was definitely getting that ring on Neil’s finger and make that shit official, if he had this kind of problems knowing where the fuck his room was, because he wasn’t _next of kin_.

The agents showed their badges, got the permission to enter the rooms section and nodded at the man, clearly shocked by the procedures. Andrew showed him his middle finger, while following the two suits.

As soon as the two agents stopped in front of a door, Andrew pushed them away, ignoring their grumblings and curses, and the way the crutches hit them on the legs. He opened the door, and barged into the room, looking around, searching some kind of threat, and finding only a bed, a bedside table and a chair. And a man, with his eyes closed and more bandages than anyone else Andrew had ever seen, beside a mummy.

Andrew closed the distance between them, his fingers jumping to the other man’s neck, feeling his pulse, the blood pumping through his arteries. He ignored the beeping from the machine hooked into the man’s arm. He had to make sure by himself, he had to feel the warm skin and the blood running through its stream. He had to hear the puffs of breathing and the eyes moving behind its lids. Andrew had to know Neil was alive, he had to know how broken he was, he had to know what he would have to do to put him back together. Andrew had to know if Neil Josten was still there or if the shadow of Nathaniel Wesninski, a man neither of them had seen for the last six years, had resurrected from the death.

Andrew’s eyes finally jumped to the machine beeping with every heartbeat, seeing the ups and downs with eagle eyes. Somewhere in time, those changed into a horizontal line. Andrew had never felt this kind of abhorrence towards a drawn shape. Andrew was finding out, that night, that he had clear emotions about a whole lot of things and it made his insides shake. He needed to speak with Bee, he needed to vent and hear what the hell she had to tell him, what the hell he had to do to feel like himself again. Somehow, Andrew suspected that, feeling like his yesterday self, had everything to do with the currently unconscious man waking up. Letting his eyes roam, Andrew took notice of the IV dripping slowly and the oxygen mask currently resting over Neil’s, _because he had to be Neil_ , mouth.

Andrew brought the chair closer to the bed, rested the crutches on the floor and sat on the chair. He pulled his phone from his pocket and played with it for a few moments, weighting what to do next. Finally making a decision, Andrew sent a group text, the first time he ever did that, to the Foxes, including Abby and Wymack, telling them the name of the hospital and its location. And then his hand hovered over Neil’s for a few seconds, unsure if his touch would be welcomed. Sighing, he took his hand away and let it rest on his lap. Neil’s body, Neil’s choice, even if Andrew’s hands were shaking to touch the man in front of him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the storm, comes the fluff...

Nathaniel Wesninski had died, just like that voice had said.

But Neil Josten opened his eyes in a hospital room and immediately closed them, blinded by the strong lights on the ceiling.

Beside his head, Neil could hear an annoying beeping and when he tried to open his eyes again and move his head, he found his face constricted by something over his mouth. Panic started growing in his body, imagining someone else other than his death father imprisoning him. Because he was sure that Nathan Wesninski was dead. He had no idea how or why he was so sure, but just like he knew Nathaniel was no longer here and Neil Josten was back again, his subconscious told him that the monster from his past was gone as well. But it didn’t mean that someone else hadn’t taken him, and was readying themselves to keep hurting him.

 

* * *

 

 

The beeping of the heart monitor rising made Andrew jump from the chair. He had fallen asleep against his wishes, too tired after hearing the Foxes talking with the FBI agents outside the door for two hours, asking to be let inside, to see Neil, to know how he was. For what Andrew could hear, the agents were like stone statues, ignoring the annoying foxes like the Queen's Guard did with bothersome tourists. If Andrew wasn’t so lost in his mind he would have smirked at it.

Looking at the monitor and noticing the rise of the heartbeat, Andrew looked down at the bed, ready to face a still unconscious Neil, probably having a nightmare, when he found himself face to face with a panicking Neil, his eyes wide open, irises blown away in terror.

“Neil! Neil!” Andrew called and making a choice touched the back of Neil’s neck and squeezed it. He took the oxygen mask from Neil’s face and waited.

 

Neil’s eyes moved away from the door and found Andrew’s face next to his. It was like every molecule in Neil’s body moved as one and he sagged against Andrew’s chest.

Andrew left his hand on Neil’s neck, but moved his other arm to surround Neil’s upper body. It was clear by now that his touch was welcome, if the way Neil was trying to melt against Andrew was any indication. Andrew had learned to read Neil after all these years, hence why when unconscious Neil was a book in a foreign language that Andrew wouldn’t dare to read, in case he got the translation wrong.

“Andrew.” Neil’s raspy voice made Andrew shiver. It was like going home after a long time away, the warm and smell of it so familiar it was almost painful. “You are okay! They said…” Neil tried to talk more, but Andrew put a finger over his lips.

“The FBI actually did their job this time.” Andrew replied.

Neil sighed softly.

“Andrew?”

“Yes, moron?” Andrew replied and Neil smiled.

“Thank you for waiting for me.” Neil answered and Andrew glared at him.

“You were gone for a few hours, I wouldn’t be able to find a replacement that fast.” Andrew answered, but it was clear by his clipped tone that his anger was brewing right under the surface.

“I’m sorry.” Neil whispered, his nose touching Andrew’s shirt and smelling it. Andrew wondered just how high he was with all the medication, and if it was worth it comparing him to the cats when they wanted to cuddle.

“Why would you be sorry, Neil? It isn’t like you decided to throw everything to the wind and walk away with the people that tortured you during you entire childhood? Oh, wait, you actually did it!” Andrew replied, his tone bored and blank, but still Neil could hear the trepidation in his body, the way his chest moved faster with every word.

“Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And I would do it all over again to keep you safe.” Neil whispered, and a yawn made him shake in pain.

Neil's hand softly moved towards Andrew’s leg and the blonde dipped his head before Neil could ask. Neil let his hand rest on Andrew’s leg, right next to the place where the bullet had been.

Andrew looked down at Neil’s face, his hands hovering over the bandages. Neil nodded his approval and Andrew started pulling them away. The stitches were perfectly done, but still the ugliness of the cuts was clear to anyone. Andrew moved his hand down and ripped the bandages from Neil’s neck, his fingertips touching the long cut in there. Andrew felt his lungs freeze at how easy it would have been to cut Neil’s jugular. And then his hands pulled Neil’s arms up, eyeing the way the bandages looked different in his arms. Somehow, Andrew knew that the injuries he was going to uncover were the worst of all, at least in emotional damage. His fingers were almost rough, like he wanted it to be over as quick as possible, and when he finally saw the damage, the burns and the cuts, his hand covered them softly, like he wanted to heal them with his skin. And then his fingertips moved up again and he finally put his palm against the place where the bullet had been. One of the doctors had come right after Andrew arrived and explained all of Neil’s injuries to him and how the one responsible for his almost demise was actually the smallest of them all. A gunshot wound. A simple hole. On his back and through his chest.

“I hate guns.” Andrew said and Neil smiled softly.

“And here I was thinking I was the only thing you hated.” He replied and Andrew glared at him. Clearly his attempt at being funny didn’t sit well with Andrew, if the way he squeezed Neil’s hospital gown was any indication. “I’m sorry for scaring you.” Neil whispered, looking down at Andrew’s fist, crushing the gown between his fingers. For a moment Neil thought he would scoff at the use of the word scaring, but probably for both’s surprise, Andrew scoffed.

“Don’t do that shit again.” Was Andrew’s only answer, before pushing Neil down slowly towards the bed and pulling the covers over his battered body.

Andrew tried to rise from the bed, where he had sat since Neil woke up, but a tug from a scarred hand made him stop.

“Stay.” Neil requested and Andrew took a deep breath.

“No funny business, you need to rest.” Andrew grumbled and Neil actually smiled.

“Did you try to make a joke, Andrew Minyard? My, my!” Neil fake-gasped and Andrew rolled his eyes at him.

“Idiot.”

Andrew redid all of Neil’s bandages, just in case someone entered the room unannounced, and waited for Neil to stop shivering in pain. Finally, Neil laid down and moved slowly around, until he felt the most comfortable he could, while having the majority of his body with some kind of injury. And then Andrew rested next to him, sharing the same pillow. Neil’s eyes were staring at him, and for once Andrew kept quiet about it, because he was doing the exact same thing, like his mind couldn’t comprehend that this was not dream.

“I’m real.” Neil said slowly, his eyelids opening more slowly with every second.

“You are a pipe dream.” Andrew replied and Neil shook his head.

“I’m Neil Abram Josten, I’m going to marry Andrew Joseph Minyard and make his life a living hell for the rest of our long lives. I’m real and I’m here.” Andrew couldn’t be sure if Neil was trying to convince himself or Andrew, but before he could ask, Neil’s eyes were no longer opening and he was breathing in a calm pattern.

Andrew tried to move his hand from where Neil had it hostage under his bandaged one, but he hold on fiercely strong for someone so hurt and asleep, and Andrew ended up giving up and letting his hand rest where it was. The last thing he saw before succumbing to sleep were the freckles on Neil’s nose and upper cheeks.

 

* * *

 

 

Neil and Andrew woke up to the sound of familiar voices echoing behind a closed door and the same closed door being open with a bang.

“Holy shit!” Nicky gasped and Neil blinked blearily at him.

“What are you doing in our house?” Neil asked, clearly confused and beside him Andrew moved restlessly. Looking around Neil remembered where they actually were and his mouth opened in a half-thought excuse for his faux pas.

“Never mind, Neil. It’s not like everyone didn’t know you were together since that very romantic goodbye in the office.” Allison said.

“Yes, it was pretty obvious, my dear cousin.” Nicky said and Kevin scoffed at him.

“We had to explain everything to you, Nicky.” Dan replied before Kevin could, and Nicky blushed.

“Just because I didn’t read the situation as you did… C’mon we were in a very dangerous situation! They could be just having their moment! Stop looking at me like that!” Nicky whined and Aaron actually knocked him in the back of his head so he would stop burying himself even more.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Andrew’s voice was cold and menacing, however the way he was still intertwined with Neil made him lose some of his edge.

“We are here to see Neil.” Matt replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Here he is. You already saw him, now get out!” Andrew ordered and everyone looked at each other like they weren’t sure of what to do. It took Wymack and Abby appearing at the threshold for them to decide to stay. “Seriously, what are those FBI fuckers even doing letting all these hooligans in here?”

“Excuse me? I’m not a hooligan!” Kevin actually looked affronted and Renee pat him softly on the shoulder.

“I’m sure Andrew is just tired from everything that happened, right?” Renee asked and Andrew rubbed his eyes.

“Let them stay. They need to know why all that happened.” Neil’s eyes moved to Renee’s bandaged arm and then Aaron’s face. “It’s only fair. I got all of us in this mess.”

“Neil, you don’t have to do anything if you don’t feel comfortable.” Abby replied and Neil shook his head.

“No, I have to. They deserve to know.”

And Neil started telling them the tale of a boy named Nathaniel and how that was only the first of his many names. When he reached the part where Wymack, Abby and Andrew appeared, Neil looked at them, waiting for their consent to bring them into the story and after that was granted, he kept going. When Neil finally stopped talking, his voice raspy and his chest burning with pain, the Foxes were looking at him with different expressions on their faces. Dan was holding Matt, both shivering with barely suppressed rage, Allison, with fierce eyes, had her hand over Nicky’s shoulder who was crying silently, while on his other side Renee was holding both his hand and Abby’s, that even already knowing part of the story felt her heart break all over again. Kevin was looking at Wymack, like he couldn’t believe he kept all that hidden, and if anyone tried to guess, it looked like he was angry at his father for letting Neil go all over that again. Aaron, on his part, was looking at his brother like he had never seen him before and when Andrew dared him to say anything with a glare, Aaron chose to keep quiet.

“Now, you know.” Neil finished and sighed, letting his weight rest against Andrew’s upper body.

“I can’t believe the person you are married to is my cousin and he never told me anything!” Nicky whined and Neil chuckled weakly.

For a moment, he thought about clarifying that whole situation, but feeling Andrew’s fingers squeeze his elbow, he understood his non-verbal message.

“I think it’s better if we leave. Neil needs to rest.” Renee suggested and the Foxes moved like they were waking from a comatose state. They looked at each other, and then at Neil again.

When his friends started moving and approaching him, Neil feared their reactions. Until then they had been quiet, probably mulling over the truckload of information they just received and basically learning that everything Neil told them before were lies. Neil tensed when Nicky stopped in front of him, and beside him he felt Andrew mirroring his actions.

“I’m so sorry, Neil.” Nicky hiccupped. “Can I hug you?”

Neil’s eyes widened at his request and taking that as no, Nicky immediately stepped back to give him space. Everyone behind Nicky waited with baited breaths to know what else Neil was going to do next.

“No, wait!” Neil almost yelled, and Nicky jumped. “You can.” He continued and saw with shock two fat tears roll down Nicky’s cheek while his mouth opened in a relieved smile.

When Neil felt Nicky’s arms around him he tensed for a millisecond, but then the warm of his friend enveloped him and Neil relaxed.

“I’m so happy for you and Andrew.” Nicky whispered and moving away winked conspiratorially at Neil, under Andrew’s sullen expression.

After Nicky, it was like the Foxes felt more at ease approaching Neil. However, every one of them asked to touch him before they did, be it kisses from Allison and Renee, on his undamaged cheek and forehead, a bone-crushing hug from Dan that left Neil fearing he had another broken rib, Matt’s trembling hand touching his shoulder and squeezing it for almost five minutes and Kevin’s pat on his back, or as back as he could reach with Andrew glaring at him. Wymack and Abby waited for each of them to give Neil a long hug, whispering words of protection and love that made Neil’s chest tighten and hurt in a good way. With every gesture of care and love the Foxes walked out of the room, until only Neil, Andrew and Aaron rested.

“So, how long have you been together?” Aaron asked, cutting to the chase and barely waiting for Abby to close the door and give them some privacy.

“Three years.” Neil answered.

“Six years.” Andrew replied at the same time.

Aaron’s eyebrows arched in some semblance of confusion, while Neil looked at Andrew with something akin to devotion.

“Six years?” Neil asked and Andrew scoffed at him, like he was being an idiot.

“Six years.” Neil stated, looking back at Aaron.

“Glad you got that cleared up.” Aaron grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Then, looking at Andrew, Aaron asked “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What? That I’m gay or that I’m in a relationship with Neil or that I have two cats?” Andrew asked and Aaron actually looked crankier than ever.

“You have two cats? Should have known we weren’t that similar.” Aaron replied and Neil actually had to suppress a chuckle. He could clearly remember Aaron’s discussion with Matt the previous week about which pets were better, cats or dogs, and how big an advocate of canines Aaron was, especially pugs.

“Aaron, being funny isn’t in your nature, don’t try it now.” Andrew said and Neil almost called him pot, but shushed himself in time to hear Aaron.

“Well, you don’t know me well enough to know what’s in my nature. That’s what happens when you stop talking to me because I want to share a life with the woman I love.” Aaron replied. For the looks of it, Andrew was ready to interrupt him, but Aaron kept going. “What if it was the opposite? What if I wanted you to stop seeing Neil six years ago? What if I told you to give up on him now, that I would give up on Katelyn as well, and that we could go live together from now on? We could even rope in Nicky, what do you say?” Aaron’s expression was the most serious Neil had ever seen and he wondered if the twins had forgotten he was still in the room. Maybe it would be better for him to follow the rest of the team and wait outside, while the brothers tried to resolve their issues.

“I would say no.” Andrew’s answer was short and to the point and Aaron nodded.

“Then and now?”

“Then and now.”

“You are a fucking hypocrite.” Aaron said.

“Then, I thought this was nothing, so it wouldn’t have meant that I was breaking the deal.” Andrew said, and Neil realized he meant the three years they spent apart. The other three years meant something right from the moment Andrew opened his door and both of them knew it.

Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again.

“Look, I won’t pretend to understand you and your psychological state, but I want to try.” Aaron took a deep breath. “Katelyn and I are going to adopt a child, and I want our kid to know their uncle. You better tell your shrink that I’m going to accompany you once a week to your sessions and we are going to solve this shit!”

And with that final statement, Aaron turned around and left the room without another word. Neil saw the door close and looked at Andrew with a mischievous smile on his face.

“Uncle Andrew.” Neil said and Andrew ignored him, his eyes still glued to the place where his brother had been. “So, are you going to talk to Betsy about Aaron joining you?” Neil asked, when it looked like Andrew wouldn’t divulge any kind of information.

“Apparently I don’t have any vote in the matter.” Andrew replied and Neil scoffed at him.

“You always have an option, just because your brother said that…”

“Weren’t you the one preaching about us reconciling?” Andrew interrupted him and Neil sighed.

“Yes, but you have to make that choice as well. It needs to be with your consent or else I will punch your brother in the face if he tries to make you do it against you sense of comfort.” Neil stated and Andrew made him lay down again.

“Everything about being with my doppelganger in a closed space is against my sense of comfort.”

“You know what I mean, Drew. Don’t do it for the sake of others, do it for yours or don’t do it at all.” Neil was more agitated than Andrew had seen him in a long time, counting their last time in the office under someone’s gun.

Andrew knew that Neil just wanted to protect him, that he wanted the best for him, while giving him the freedom to make his own choices and make his own mistakes. However, something told him that doing this might do him and his brother some good, that maybe they should have done this years ago, after Drake was killed and Andrew had to testify about the stuff he had done to him, after a small part of the ugliness of his past was known by his brother. Maybe if he didn’t shut himself out, maybe if he tried to give his brother a chance, Aaron might have tried to reason with Andrew about Katelyn instead of simply drifting apart.

By Neil’s expression, Andrew’s decision was clear on his face, and seeing that smug face of Neil’s made him want to throttle the man with his pillow.

“Go the fuck to sleep.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so happy it makes me feel weird...

When Neil woke up the next day, Andrew wasn’t sitting in the chair next to his bed, but someone else was. It had been years since Neil saw the man, but the similarities with his mother were too much for him to be anyone else but his uncle Stuart, his mother’s only brother.

Truth be told, Neil was already expecting a visit from the man. Ever since Andrew told Neil the conversation he had with the FBI agents, and how they said it wasn’t them to have found Neil there was only another person with the power to do so.

Stuart Hatford was not a tall man, and Neil blamed once again his short stature on the Hatford genes. But what the man lacked in height, he had in charisma and power. From his elegant suit he could be a simple business man, but his dark green eyes told a different story. Just like Mary Hatford's did before she died.

“Uncle Stuart.” Neil acknowledged and Stuart nodded back.

“Nathaniel.” Stuart replied.

“It’s Neil, actually.” A voice said from the door and Neil looked around to see Andrew with a cup of probably incredibly sweet coffee in his hands. He was resting with his back to the wall and one of his legs crossed in front of the other. If Neil didn’t know better, he would say Andrew was the epitome of relaxed.

“Neil.” Stuart corrected and Andrew nodded like a teacher surveilling a student. “I hope you are recovering well.” the British accent was thick and Neil felt a sudden sense of loss that he quickly put away. Thinking about his mother and his past would do him no good right now.

“You were the ones to kill my father, right? I thought I recognized your voice…” Neil didn’t complete the sentence, but the words _before I almost died_ were clearly floating in the air.

“Yes.” Was Stuart’s short reply and Andrew snorted.

“If someone heard you, they wouldn’t believe you actually worked with the blessing of the FBI.” Andrew said and Stuart looked at him with shrewd eyes.

“Minyard, you are the last person to have any kind of rock to throw. You killed your mother and still became a lawyer. Now, that’s what I would call irony.” Stuart replied and Neil’s eyes widened.

_How did his uncle know? Did the FBI know as well? Were they just biding their time until they could arrest Andrew? And Neil for abiding a criminal?_

_Could they share a cell?_ That would make the prospect of being in prison a lot brighter.

“Don’t worry, nephew, no one knows beside some of my trusted associates and they won’t tattle. You don’t think you could keep hidden from me, right? I found you years ago, already living with him, so obviously I had to know the kind of man my nephew was sharing his life with.” Stuart said and Neil waited for some kind of prejudiced word to leave his uncle’s mouth. “I thought I could trust you with him, if his history speaks for itself. But then this mess happened.” Stuart nodded at Neil’s bandages and the auburn-haired man bristled.

“It was not Andrew’s fault! They escaped from prison! And they shot him! Andrew could have died protecting me! So, don’t you dare say another word about him. Uncle or not, I won’t stand aside and let you badmouth him!” Neil’s voice rose with every word and by the end of his rampage he was breathing hard and clutching his chest.

“Idiot.” Andrew was beside him in a second, making him lay against the mountain of pillows that somehow Andrew had acquired.

Stuart’s eyes moved between Andrew’s blank stare and Neil’s angry one and rubbed his temples.

“Why can’t you make my life easy?” Stuart wondered out loud and Neil scoffed at him.

“I’m sorry for being kidnapped and shot by my own father's people. It’s not like I choose to be born in this family.” Neil’s words were harsh and Stuart felt the bite of them by the way his eyes glared at Neil.

“What I would like to know was if the FBI didn’t tell you that Neil was taken or if you thought he was a liability that could go either way.” Andrew said, sitting beside Neil, on the bed, while looking at Stuart without an inch of fear in his eyes.

Stuart bristled at Andrew's words and his green eyes darkened like a forest shadowed by a thunder storm.

“I don’t know what Nathaniel told you about the Hatfords, but we value family above else. I would have protected my nephew if he so much as asked.” Stuart replied, and kept going, not giving time to Andrew to correct him on the use of Neil’s name. “So, imagine my surprise when I find Nathaniel in that building. If I knew he had been taken, believe me, my team would have found Nathan and his associates much faster.”

Andrew moved against Neil's shoulder and Neil looked at him, noticing his smug expression, that he usually associated with Andrew making a breakthrough in a case.

“The FBI probably wanted to tie loose ends. They sent a team to the office, so they couldn’t be accused of doing nothing, just missing Neil, but actually saving a bunch of civilians. With Nathan dead they wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore, and if he killed his son in the way, when you got him you would definitely kill him as revenge for your dear nephew. If Nathan didn’t kill Neil the FBI would still claim that they did their best and we would have ended up having this nice chat that we are having right now.” Andrew summarized the situation.

“But he couldn’t have escaped by himself.” Neil said and Stuart looked at him.

“He didn’t. Actually, I have an entire file of information about some interesting facts surrounding your father’s prison sentence for the last couple of months.” Stuart said. “Apparently, you gained a very dangerous enemy in your line of work, the same that sent those men after your friends at your office. And he didn’t like at all that you exposed part of his nature to the world, and that you were ready to expose the rest.” Stuart extended his arm towards Neil and let a file fall on his lap. “Happy reading. And just remember, family is everything.”

Stuart walked out of the room without looking back once and as soon as the door closed behind him Andrew turned to Neil.

“Fastidious prick.” Andrew commented and Neil smiled softly, before opening the file to find out if his suspicions were right.

“My father changed his cell mate and two new guards started working on his prison. There are some interesting money exchanges for someone that should be in maximum security. Ah, alas! They tried to hide the trail, but they have nothing on the Hatfords’s investigative skills. Riko paid them by a very impressive number of offshore accounts. You know, my uncle knows some journalists that worked with all that Panama Papers business, and I bet they helped him with it.” Neil explained, going through the rest of the evidence and cataloging it in what he already had against Riko.

“Shouldn’t you go after him and kiss his pinky or something?” Andrew asked sarcastically and Neil looked at him with all the consideration in the world. For a moment, Andrew found himself confused at his reaction, until Neil opened his mouth.

“The only pinky I want to kiss is yours.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

With all the time Neil stayed at the hospital, he made sure to use his time to work every minute he could. No matter how many times Andrew tried to take his computer away, or Nicky brought him cupcakes and Allison tried to rope him into telling her more stuff about his domestic life with Andrew, Neil ignored them all and kept on preparing himself to face Riko one last time. With the papers his uncle left him, Neil had a wild card, something that not even Riko could predict. Especially if he was expecting Neil to die and not even reach the court’s stairs.

Using one last trick, Neil used the info about the FBI’s involvement with his gangster uncle in ending his father, to actually get everything in a nice packed wrap. Browning wasn’t too happy about letting Neil read the file they had on Riko, but since he was threatening of exposing all that mess on national television, a deal was made and a file was read. Apparently, Riko had been under the watchful eye of the FBI because of his human trafficking deals and they had more information than Robin actually got him.

When Neil finally left the hospital, he felt like he could breathe properly for the first time in several weeks, heck, several months! For the first time he felt like he could really defeat Riko, and when he entered the office, that first day out of the hospital, with Andrew breathing down his neck and firmly against his decision to go into work so soon, Neil couldn’t say he was actually surprised by finding a huge banner saying **“Welcome home, Neil!”** in garish orange letters. What he was surprised to find was his friends yelling at each other to make sure every witness was still going to go forward with their statements against Riko, that Jeremy and Jean had an hotel to stay during the trial so they could be closer to the court, that Robin had all the info in understandable English and in neat PowerPoints, because apparently, everybody loved PowerPoints. Even Katelyn, that Neil only met by some pictures in Aaron’s desk, was there, giving everyone coffee refills since it was her day off. But when Neil saw Thea Muldani, sitting next to Kevin, both typing furiously and comparing notes, Neil felt he could jump from the window and actually fly.

“Neil is here!” Matt suddenly yelled and everyone turned around to face him, congratulating him in leaving the hospital, while indicating that he should immediately sit down, that they had everything under control and that before he could realize, Riko would be behind bars. When Wymack and Abby appeared, bringing lunch and a somewhat ruffled Jean and an excited Jeremy, Neil felt like his life came full circle. He had everything and everyone he needed right now and couldn’t have been happier that he accepted Wymack’s and Abby’s help all those years ago.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial...

The day of the trial rose with a light rain falling all around town.

Neil almost forgot his umbrella, but Andrew stopped him with a hand on his jacket, before he could leave, and extended him his black umbrella instead of Neil’s orange one. Neil’s fetish with the color orange was something Andrew could never understand, and he wouldn’t start today.

Sharing an umbrella, Andrew and Neil left their building, seeing a massive car stop in front of them and a chauffeur opening the door just for them. Andrew had to bite his tongue before he could curse Stuart Hatford to the deepest of hells, but apparently, the man wanted to make sure his nephew would get to the court and get Riko Moriyama behind bars, as quick as Andrew wanted. But while Stuart probably wanted that for business purposes, Andrew just wanted distance from any kind of mobster for the rest of his life, with the exception of a certain mobster’s son.

When the door closed behind them, Andrew was expecting to see Stuart, hovering like a Batman villain, but luckily the car was empty beside them and the driver. Andrew looked over at Neil, seeing the other man mumbling words under his breath. He knew what he was saying, even without reading his lips. He had heard Neil rehearse over and over for the last couple of days his initial and final statements, trying to find the most resounding words, that could sway the jury in Jean and Jeremy’s favor.

* * *

 

Andrew had met the two men only twice, the first time in passing when Abby and Wymack brought them to the office, and the second when they both came to see Neil after all the confusion of coming back from almost dying and diving into work obsessively right after. Neil had received them at home, no longer having to hide that part of his life, and Andrew had hovered in the corner of the living room, actually acting like a Batman villain, or like Voldemort, as Andrew would like to correct if someone ever remarked on that. However, neither Jean nor Jeremy commented on his dark and protective aura, standing behind Neil. The three of them spoke, not only about the case, but about how Neil was and how his recovery was going.

More than once, Neil assured them that his physical state wouldn’t mess with the trial, and those were the only times Andrew made a sound, with a very conspicuous snort. Jean had looked at him, but Andrew’s glare was enough to convey who he blamed for Neil’s present state. Jeremy had the courage of looking ashamed, while Jean wasn’t brave enough to admit his part in Neil’s attack, and Andrew wanted to punch that French’s fucking face off for even daring to ignore that fact. At least Jeremy had the decency of feeling for the both of them.

* * *

 

The trip to the court was silent for the most part after Neil stopped rehearsing his speech. Without a second thought, his pinky intertwined with Andrew’s and for the rest of the ride, Andrew’s finger acted as an anchor to Neil’s floating emotions.

When the car finally stopped in front of the steps that would take them into the justice building, Neil looked up from his lap and at Andrew, for a long time.

“Staring.” Andrew accused and Neil merely nodded. There was need to lie about that anymore.  And he didn’t feel like making a joke. “Let’s go.” Andrew opened the door, pulled Neil out and the both of them walked up those steps, hand in hand.

Andrew walked into the court room behind Neil, letting his hand go when the auburn-haired man walked forward and Andrew stopped, choosing a seat next to Kevin on the last row of benches. On the other side of Kevin, the rest of the Foxes sat in various states of anxiety and worry. Nicky tried to smile at his cousin, but his expression was too wobbly and he quickly gave up to look at his lap once again. Not even Aaron looked calm under Andrew’s observational eyes. The only ones that resembled any semblance of their normal selves were Wymack and Abby, that sitting in the row in front of them looked like fortifications ready to defend the castle. Someone coughed by Andrew’s left and he turned to see Betsy and Robin smiling at him. They were getting ready to sit in the row in front of Andrew, next to Abby and Wymack, and Bee turned immediately around to inquire about Neil’s state of mind.

“I know he doesn’t like people worrying about him…” Bee trailed off and Andrew thought it the understatement of the century.

Andrew was going to answer when his eyes rested on Neil and the person he was currently speaking with. Andrew rose his eyebrows and looked at Kevin, asking wordlessly why his wife was currently talking with Neil, with one of her strong hands over his right shoulder. Kevin shrugged his shoulders, clearly confused about the interaction as well. Andrew trusted Thea as much as he trusted someone he only met on social occasions, like company dinners and tacky Christmas parties, but by Neil’s stance whatever they were talking about wasn’t making him more uncomfortable than he already was. Actually, it looked like Thea was giving him some directions.

“Weren’t you supposed to be the one giving all the shitty incentive speeches?” Andrew asked right next to Wymack’s shoulder and the older man grunted.

“I spoke with Neil yesterday. He knows what I think about this trial.” Wymack replied succinctly and Andrew looked at him with as much surprise as he could show. Neil hadn’t uttered a word about Wymack’s conversation and Andrew wondered just how bad or actually well it went for Neil to keep quiet about it. Deciding to let the issue rest until the end of the trial, Andrew saw Thea walk away from Neil, smile at Kevin and walk out of the room.

 

* * *

 

­­­­

Neil had been alone at the office the day before, since Andrew had been inquiring a witness for one of his cases and the rest of the Foxes had left for the day already, when he heard heavy footsteps walk towards him. The steps were familiar now after all those months listening to them move around, usually by the end of the day, when commonly only Neil and Kevin were left behind, each working on their own cases and worrying about the same thing.

Neil turned around to face Wymack and saw that the man had a serious expression on his face, before his eyes turned somehow softer. Neil nodded at him, when Wymack stopped a few steps from him, and the older man pulled a chair to sit next to Neil.

“So, how are you holding up?” Wymack asked and Neil shrugged.

“Facing Riko in court after being kidnapped by my own father seems like a piece of cake.” Neil commented and Wymack’s expression darkened.

“I hate when you maggots talk about your traumas like it was the most normal shit in the world.” Wymack replied and Neil shrugged again. “Well, I didn’t come to talk about your past trauma, anyway, that’s something you and your therapist have to work out.”

“I don’t have a therapist.” Neil replied immediately and Wymack sighed.

“Yeah, I know. Maybe you should rethink that. I heard your lover boy’s therapist was damn good, not that I’m her friend or anything…” Wymack cracked a smile and Neil snorted. “Well, I should say what I came here to say before you go home and rest for tomorrow. Look, Neil, I know your life has been damn hard, fuck, I still remember your eyes when I first met you, and I know you can take anything the world throws at you. It’s not a little fucker like Riko that always had everything on a silver plate that can defeat you. It's time to show him what you're made of. There's no room for doubt, no room for second guesses, no room for error. This is your fight. This is your moment. Seize it with everything you've got. Fight because you don't know how to die quietly. Win because you don't know how to lose. It’s time for Riko to lose his damn crown!”

Wymack clapped Neil on the shoulder and before he could say anything to his encouraging words, Wymack was already leaving, his ears a little red. Neil smiled softly at the man’s back and his embarrassment, sighed and rose from his desk, leaving for the day. During the trip back, while being driven by one of Stuart’s employees, Neil wondered if Andrew would already be home, if the cats had destroyed something during the day, or if they still had some leftover pizza from last night. Nothing about the case that he would try to win the next day, nothing about the psycho he was going to face on court, only Andrew, their cats and their dinner. Neil smiled beatifically at his own thoughts.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Your honor and jurors of this trial, my role in this process is to show you and everyone in this courtroom that my client was indeed a victim of the accused, that he was abused for years, both physically and emotionally. That he took those abuses because at first he thought he was protecting his parents and later because the accused blackmailed him and brainwashed him into doing his bidding. Jean Moreau is a man in search of safety and freedom, something that was denied to him for too many years, he lives in fear for his life and his partner’s. We will show without any doubt that the most recent injuries were perpetrated by the accused’s orders, but that there are older ones that were done by the accused himself. With not only video footage of several instances but reliable witnesses, we will show you that Riko Moriyama tortured Jean Moreau for years, influencing a man’s outcome in life and society.” Neil finished his statement and sat on his chair, while Riko’s lawyer started his own statement, accusing Jean of being an unhappy employer that after being fired for indiscretions in the office and theft of sensitive information, tried to get his revenge on his former employee.

Neil felt the adrenaline rise in his veins with every passing moment. He called Riko’s friends, the ones responsible for Jean and Jeremy's beating to testify. At first they tried to deny everything, but when Neil pulled video footage from a car camera, belonging to one of Jeremy’s neighbors, parked outside the building with a clear view of everything, the men found themselves stuttering and closing their mouths before they ended up in bigger problems. A court specialist verified the authenticity of the footage and Neil smirked at the other lawyer.

The lawyer, someone that Neil knew was called Richard Madden, accused the men of acting alone without his clients’ knowledge. Apparently, fearing the punishment that they would receive, none of them accused Riko of ordering the beating. But Neil knew that it would go that way, he was ready for it, and so he pulled phone logs with Riko’s number calling both of them one hour before the beating and one of the man’s phone calling him right after they were recorded dropping Jean and Jeremy.

Neil was able of calling to testify some former employees, the only ones brave enough to actually go against Riko. And every one of them backed up Jean’s claims. Once again, they were denied as unsatisfied fired employees, but the words were there and the pain in those men and women's voices couldn't be faked. Even if Madden once again attacked their lives, pulling up evidence about some minor misdemeanors of them that could fog their testimony. By Riko’s expression, he was feeling pretty damn smug about Neil’s witnesses being refuted one after the other. Neil kept his own smug expression and got ready for the rest of it. The real thing was going to start now.

After Riko gave his testimony, making sure to show how flabbergasted he was by all this, and so sorry that his former employee felt like accusing such an outstanding citizen of such awful crimes, Neil was left with his hands closed in tight fists at the bastard's  _innocent_ smile.

 

And then, Neil looked at Jean, his meaningful eyes transmitting some kind of signal, and the man sighed, knowing what was going to happen next would make everything go finally down. Everything would be exposed, and Riko wouldn’t find a way to escape this time. However, it would mean a great deal of suffering for Jean and Jeremy, and more than once, Neil had asked Jean if he was ready for it.

What Riko didn’t know was that the FBI had their own file on him, that they had perused his computer without his knowledge, that they had found private videos of many things he had done to Jean or watched others do. But that they were still mounting their case about his other prolific activities, hence why they had yet to act. Neil choose to not divulge his opinion on the matter before the agents gave him that information. He knew he couldn’t say where he got the videos, but he had a good story of Jean stealing and hiding them, before everything went down. Neil would say he was too ashamed of what happened to him, using the definition of the victim blaming himself for what others did to him. And so, calling the best psychiatrist he knew, Neil asked Dr. Betsy Dobson, what was her professional knowledge on the matter of victim self-blaming and the effects of prolonged exposure to violence until it was everything the person knew.

When the other lawyer tried to accuse Dobson of biased information, Neil called other two, court-sanctioned, psychiatrists that confirmed everything she had said. And finally, when Neil felt the jurors were curious enough about what he was trying to do with all that psychiatric context, he played the videos.

Neil heard, more than saw, the reactions of everyone in the room. The gasps and horrified murmurs floated over the room. On the screen, everyone could see in a slow succession of videos, Jean Moreau, as a child, as a teen, as a young man, tied to different beds and different chairs, and laying on different floors, being used in the most degrading ways, being sexually abused, beaten, spat on, yelled at, his blood oozing from his wounds, his screams echoing, yelling for help, for anyone to save him, to stop, to die... Different people showed in those videos, but there was one always there, always lurking, many times involving himself in the beatings or ordering the abuses from others.

Neil looked at Riko, to gauge his reaction, and was with satisfaction that he saw the man’s lost expression. Neil knew he only had those videos because the FBI had tools to enter other people’s computers that Robin, for all her knowledge, didn’t have the power to do, that without them he would be left with only circumstantial evidence. However knowing that those same agents used him as bait to get his father, well, he couldn’t really regret kind of blackmailing them into getting him that evidence. Especially when he knew that the case was won as soon as the tape started playing.

Jean’s eyes were glued to the television screen. He had refused to watch the videos beforehand, according to him he didn’t want to watch them more than necessary, and Neil respected his wishes. Now, Neil wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Jean looked like he was going to have a heart attack, his eyes were blown away, he was sweating and his skin was pale as a cadaver’s. Neil was ready to intervene when someone called Jean’s name from behind him.

Jean shook himself from his stupor, and turned around slowly to face Jeremy.

“Just look at me and only me.” Jeremy mouthed and Jean nodded rigidly.

Neil sighed and turned to watch the videos until the end. When the screen went black, Neil heard people sigh.

“I can hear you sigh, that the horror is over, but just remember, for you it was only on a screen, but for Jean, it was his life for many years. As a child and a teen he believed he was saving his parents by keeping quiet, later he found out that they had sold him to pay their debts, and as an adult he could only live in shame. Only recently he was able of stealing these evidence, right before the beating he took, and he showed them to me, hoping that I could help him.”

Neil was giving his final statement, knowing there was nothing more to be said about the case that could sway people’s opinion, without looking like Riko had bought them.

Neil was sure some of them had received money to give a non-guilty verdict, but now, after this, only a fool would to that.

“Mr. Moriyama tried to stop this case from moving forward, he threatened not only Mr. Moreau and Mr. Knox’s lives, but mine as well. He helped a convicted criminal, my biological father, escape prison, so he could kill me and prevent me from being present in here. Now, I know this has nothing to do with the current case, however, the evidences of it, carefully found by the professional work of the Federal Bureau, can give you a perfect picture of the man you are now seeing in this court. A man that always commandeered an empire, that always saw his wishes, no matter how perverted they were, being obeyed, that used and abused from human lives without any regard for their emotional and physical stability. This man deserves the maximum penalty for the incalculable suffering he provoked. Esteemed members of the jury, please, think carefully about how you would feel if these things had happened to a member of your family, to your son. Would you let a man like Riko Moriyama walk free to once again hurt people? Think carefully, you may be saving lives.” Neil stopped talking and sat next to Jean.

Jean turned to face Neil. His skin was still ashy, but his eyes had a renewed vigor that the lawyer had yet to see in those somber eyes.

“Thank you.” Jean whispered and Neil squeezed his shoulder.

The rest of the trial passed in a blur. No matter the final words of Madden, the jurors’ opinions were already set. Even if he tried to accuse Neil of fabricating the video, of not following the protocol, of bringing up false claims about his father and Riko, or any other accusations he could come with, it was already set in stone.

When the jurors read their statement and the judge called the case to an end, Neil felt like he was underwater. There was something incredibly liberating in knowing he had done that, he had been able to defeat Riko, that he had saved not only Jean, but many others that he would probably never meet.

When the cops handcuffed Riko, Neil smirked at him, finally letting his emotions show on his face. The other man’s eyes were the craziest Neil had ever seen and for a moment he wondered if Riko would try to kill him right there when he jumped to stand face to face with Neil. Apparently the cops thought so as well, because another one, beside the first two, secured Riko, and tried to pull him away from Neil. But before they could take him away, Riko whispered in Neil’s ear, making the lawyer shiver in repulse.

“I’m going to get out, Nathaniel, and I will visit your little AJ and let him know everything I thought about while in prison.” Before Riko could say anything else, the cops pulled him away, and dragged him against his will.

Behind Neil, a mix of sobs and hugs were happening, with Jean and Jeremy intertwined in each other, sobbing against one another and whispering affirmations of love and care. Before Neil could say anything, the Foxes were falling on him, congratulating him, hugging and kissing whenever he gave permission. And when Neil opened his arms to all of them, every Fox, beside Andrew, Aaron and Kevin, went to the group hug. Neil couldn’t see the three of them behind Matt’s massive frame, but he suspected Andrew would be looking at them bored, Aaron would be trying to ignore the embarrassment of adults acting like that and Kevin would be unsure of joining or staying way, trying to keep his cool demeanor. And he was right, because as soon as the group dispersed, it was exactly what he saw. After Abby and Wymack hugged him and went to talk with Betsy outside, Neil approached Andrew.

“So, was I any good?” Neil asked, unable of hiding the huge smile on his face.

Andrew scoffed at his question.

“You are such an idiot.” Andrew replied, but let his hand wander until his pinky was around Neil’s.

Neil felt people approach him from behind, and by Andrew’s darkening expression, he knew who it would be. Turning around, Neil faced Jean and Jeremy, smiling fiercely at the both of them.

“It finally ended.” Neil said and Jean nodded slowly.

Jean opened his mouth repeatedly, but no sound left his lips. He swallowed and tried again, this time holding Jeremy’s hand as support.

“I… I never believed that anyone could be good to me. While growing up, Riko took all that from me, and then I met Jeremy, and for all these awful months I thought he would be taken away from me as well. So, what I’m trying to say is… thank you, for keeping your promise, and actually making me believe that people could fight for me and not only against me.” Jean extended his hand and Neil shook it with a ferocious expression on his face.

“We got the bastard.” Neil said, and Jean actually chuckled softly.

“We got the bastard!” Jean replied.

 

* * *

 

 

When Neil walked out of the room, a group of journalists were waiting for him, each one claiming for his attention and his words. Something that they could publish, sell, exacerbate and make the topic of the next few days until a bigger monster appeared to stalk innocent people in their sleep.

Neil smirked at the journalists, and felt Andrew pinch his back, warning him wordlessly to be cautious with what he said. Jean and Jeremy had stayed behind, hoping to leave when less people were waiting around.

"Mr. Josten, what to do you think about this verdict?"

 "Well, it was the only logic ending for these awful crimes, don't you think? Mr.Moriyama is a criminal and deserves to receive punishment for his unlawful ways." Neil smirked at the journalist, like he expected more of them than this blase questions.

"You accused Mr. Moriyama of working with your father, a convicted criminal, to kill you. How can you prove those allegations?"

Neil kept silent for a long moment and everyone froze, waiting for his next words. He was wondering what to say, unsure if he should divulge more information about what he was going to do next. And then he smiled his cold smile and sent every kind of precaution to the air.

"I have proof of Mr. Moriayama helping Nathan Wesninski, Lola Malcolm and Romero Malcolm in escaping prison, that will be proved in a future case. I also have proof of Mr. Moriyama being the responsible behind the death of one of my colleagues, Seth Gordon, with which he tried to scare me into giving up this case. All these accusations will be properly proved in a court of law, in a date yet to define. Thank you very much."

Without waiting for another question, Neil started moving towards the car his uncle sent him. Noticing Allison standing by, close enough to have heard him mentioning Seth, he looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction. Allison looked back at him, with a fierce expression on her face.

"Let's destroy him!" she exclaimed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only the epilogue to go, my friends. We are almost at the end of this journey!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue.

  
Neil was stretched on the couch, when the front door opened and closed with a bang. Neil immediately knew who it was and smiled smugly at Andrew when he appeared on the threshold.

“Told you I would beat you on foot.” Neil stated, while Andrew let his car keys drop in the entry table.

Andrew choose to ignore Neil’s taunting voice and moved his legs forcefully so he could sit on the couch. Neil whined at the sudden movement, but when Andrew repositioned his legs over his lap, Neil quieted down with a happy sigh.

“Are they finished with the enquiry about the fucker’s death?” Andrew asked while zapping through the channels on TV.  
Neil nodded, his fingers caressing Andrew’s free hand, that was resting on Neil’s stomach.

“They ruled it as suicide. Seriously, it took them three months to decide that finding a guy alone in his cell, hanging with a sheet around his neck, was a suicide.” Neil commented and Andrew scoffed.

“Like it could be anything else, right?” Andrew replied and Neil’s eyebrows rose in fake surprise.

None of them said out loud what happened, but the night of the trial, Neil had heard someone knock on their door, and when he went to open it, he only found a note in the entrance mat. It was written in a familiar code.

 ** _The laundry is done,_** it said, and at first Neil was confused about the meaning, not the sender, however, when he saw the news the next morning he understood what the message meant. Stuart had once again kept his mantra of family first, and this time Neil couldn’t stop himself from thinking about his uncle with some semblance of appreciation. The next time the man appeared or called, Neil would try to act better towards him.

“What else could it be?” Neil replied and closed his eyes for a well-deserved nap.

“Aaron talked to me today.” Andrew suddenly said, and Neil opened his eyes once again. “He and his wife are going to have the kids over for an experimental period.”

Neil smirked at Andrew’s words. After Aaron told them about the adoption process, Neil had, more than once, joked about Andrew becoming a dotting uncle. Andrew’s only answer was a grumble and a roll of his eyes, but Neil had caught him googling about child development and age-appropriate toys. Neil decided to keep those findings secret, but when Aaron told them they were going to adopt twins, Neil couldn’t stop his reaction at the irony of it. Andrew, from his part, kept silent about it, but his silence was approval enough of the whole thing.

“You know, I was thinking of inviting the Foxes over for dinner.” Neil said, in a fake blasé tone and, by the mocking movement of Andrew’s lips, he wasn’t fooled by Neil’s manner.

Giving up on all pretenses, Neil sighed.

“Fine, I want to invite them to celebrate the wedding and let the kids know they are welcome into the family.” Neil replied and Andrew looked down at him.

“We are not married yet.”

“I know, but we are going to, so why not do both things at the same time?” Neil proposed and Andrew actually stopped to think about it.

“I don’t want them on the wedding.” Andrew replied and Neil opened his mouth to disagree, but Andrew was faster. “Nicky will be a babbling mess, Allison will get soppy, Kevin will get drunk, Renee will try to keep everyone civil and fail, Dan and Matt will try to renew their vows at the same time, Aaron will leave before you say yes and Abby will try to take as many pictures as humanly possible, before someone breaks her camera accidentally, and Wymack is left with a distressed wife. So, no. But I can agree on a dinner after the ceremony, and we only tell them we are already married during the meal, so everyone is kind of dispersed throughout the table and I can sit as far away from Nicky as possible.” Andrew fell silent and Neil realized he had actually made a plan about the procedures of their wedding, and that made the most blinding smile appear on his face.

“Deal!” Neil said, before moving to have mind-numbing sex with his future husband.

* * *

 

“Are you scared?” Neil asked when Andrew stopped in front of the big wooden doors. 

Andrew ignored him for a few seconds and then looked down at their joined hands.

“Why would I be scared? This was my decision.” Andrew’s tone gave no freedom to a rebuke and Neil squeezed his fingers with a soft smile on his face.

When they opened the door a woman was already expecting them. They were on time, even if Andrew had whined (not that he would ever admit to doing that) that Neil would make them late with all his fussing with his hair. And what an irony it was for someone like Neil to be so nervous about his hair in such day.

“I just don’t want you finding another guy with better hair, since there’s no salvation to my face.” Neil had tried to joke, but Andrew’s angry expression meant he had failed miserably. Neil had sighed and kissed Andrew’s cheek softly.

When Neil took the pen to sign his name next to Andrew, after the woman had made her own speech about love and respect, until death did them apart (Andrew snorted at it, like daring death to just try and fail miserably at it), he stopped a moment to stare at Andrew’s signature. Something warm was unfurling on his stomach.

“Already regretting this?” Andrew asked, noticing Neil’s hesitation.

Neil looked up, a breath-taking smile on his face, and Andrew felt his heart hammer in his chest at such an open expression.

“No, just noticing how Minyard-Josten looks good together.”

 

* * *

 

  
“C’mon, Neil, tell us how you convinced Andrew into making a team dinner at your place. Not that I’m complaining, this place is awesome.” Matt asked and Nicky immediately jumped into the conversation, almost dislodging Matt from the couch’s arm with his sudden movement.

“Don’t tell me Andrew has a kink and you are going to play his roleplay! Scandalous, Neil!” Nicky gasped dramatically and then fell against Matt laughing too hard.

“Do you wanna know what my kink is, Nicky?” a voice suddenly asked from the living room threshold and the three of them looked at Andrew, Matt fearful for Nicky’s safety, Neil curious about the development and Nicky clearly too confident in his cousin’s sudden sharing nature. “To rid myself of annoying cousins.”

“I’m your only cousin!” Nicky pouted and Andrew nodded.

“See my point?” and he turned around before Nicky could say anything else to actually make him resource to murder.

“There, there…” Neil patted Nicky’s shoulder awkwardly, while the older man accused Andrew of insensitivity and other crimes of the same genre. “He actually likes you, he just doesn’t know how to show it.” Neil said, hoping he wasn’t stretching the truth too much.

“I know, if he didn’t, he would have punched me when I told him I was happy he got himself such a knockout man.” Nicky said and Matt actually whined at his words.

“Sometimes I wonder if you lack self-preservation skills.” Allison's voice echoed from another room, but still close enough to have heard everything.

“No, I just like to speak what’s on my mind. For so long I couldn’t do it, because I was too afraid of people judging me, especially my parents and their zealots friends. Now, I just want to enjoy my lost time.” Nicky replied and Neil felt a lump on his throat. Matt moved closer to Nicky and patted his knee.

“Don’t get all emotional on me, Klose!” Allison answered and Nicky chuckled softly.

“Bitch!” he accused.

“And you love me for it.”

“Damn right!”

Before they could start another of their back and forth, a knocking echoed from the front door and Neil immediately jumped to his feet. Nicky was almost trembling in excitement and only his husband Erik’s sudden presence made him quiet down enough, for Neil to move towards the door without Nicky shadowing him. But Andrew beat him to it, and when Neil stopped in front of the door, Aaron and Katelyn were already inside, and two four years-old girls were gawking at Andrew. Aaron was on the process of explaining who Andrew was, when his twin knelt on the floor to be on eye-level with the girls.

“I’m your uncle Andrew, and this is your uncle Neil.” Andrew said, and Neil felt his heart stutter. His voice was the softer he had ever heard around other people that not Neil and it did strange things to Neil’s usually controlled emotional side.

Neil knelt next to Andrew and smiled at the girls.

“Welcome to the family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your support and all your kind words, they made all this so much easier!I hope you enjoyed the story until the end!


End file.
